US, Europe Plan New Sanctions on Russia

A Taliban fighter stands guard in front of people waiting to enter a bank in Kabul. "Nothing has improved, and the predictions are really grim," Mort said of the current state of the crisis. An Afghan internally displaced toddler rests in a hammock inside at temporary mud house at the Shaidayee refugee camp in Herat Province. "I give everything I earn to my parents," the boy, who lives in the central province of Maidan Wardak told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

Civilian casualties and war crimes on the ground have been reported, more than 2.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the war broke out, and satellite footages show huge destruction of infrastructure and residential buildings. And on March 1, the World Bank announced the release of some $1 billion from the previously frozen Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund. The new move comes after the US provided Ukraine with billions of dollars worth of military equipment, economic aid, and humanitarian aid to support Kyiv’s forces as they resisted the Russian invasion and dealt with the war’s aftereffects. This week, there were media reports that Russia pulled almost 50 diplomatic staff and family members from its missions in Ukraine in January.

But reports of fresh fighting on the outskirts of the capital forced residents back into their shelters on Monday evening. The international criminal court’s prosecutor has announced that he will launch an investigation into possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Ukraine. At least nine people have been killed, including three children, and 37 wounded in one day after the shelling in the Kharkiv, the city’s mayor said.

Regardless of what actually happens in eastern Ukraine, the US seems to have laid the ground to explain any flare-up of violence War In Ukraine there by blaming Russia. Last week, the White House claimed it had intelligence that Moscow was planning to stage a false flag attack to justify an invasion. There are claims that Ukraine is preparing its own troops for a possible escalation. This week, a spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic claimed that some 60 armed men without insignias had captured several buildings in a village on the line separating government and rebel forces, in the East.

In recognition of Ukraine’s Independence Day on Wednesday, August 24, US President Joe Biden announced a roughly $3 billion security assistance package to support Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, as it fights the Russian invasion. The crown prince said the kingdom has increased its self-sufficiency in military industries to 15% from 2% and plans to reach 50% under the newly appointed defence minister, SPA reported. His new role as prime minister is in line with the king’s previous delegation of duties to him, including representing the kingdom on foreign visits and chairing summits hosted by the kingdom, Reuters quoting a Saudi official said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that a deliberate attack against allies’ infrastructure would be met with a determined response, following what it called acts of “sabotage” on the Nord Stream pipelines, Reuters reported. Kiev has ramped up military exercises and is trying to enhance its mobilization capacity. Last month, the country’s defense ministry risked public discontent by ordering women of certain professions and ages to register for potential conscription.

Viktor Medevchuk is under house arrest and Petro Poroshenko can’t leave the country. The effort was somewhat undermined by the apparent reluctance of some European nations to act with full determination. The "nuclear option" to cut Russia from the international banking transfer system Swift was reportedly dropped as it would likely hurt the West itself too much. Despite military preparations, Kiev puts much of its hopes on Western help in the event of an open conflict with Russia, should it happen.

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