Tag Archives: US President Joe Biden

Politics, Regional

G7 offers US$50bn security loan to Ukraine on frozen Russian assets

Lloyd M’bwana

PUGLIA-(MaraviPost)-The G7 has agreed to use frozen Russian assets to raise $50bn (£39bn) for Ukraine to help it fight invading Russian forces.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden sign bilateral security deal

According to BBC, US President Joe Biden said it was another reminder to Russia “that we’re not backing down”, but in Moscow President Vladimir Putin said the move was “theft” which would “not go unpunished”.

Also at the G7 summit in Italy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Mr Biden signed a 10-year bilateral security deal between Ukraine and the US, hailed by Kyiv as “historic”.

The agreement envisages US military and training aid to Ukraine – but it does not commit Washington to send troops to fight for its ally.

According to the White House, the security deal means Washington and Kyiv will work to build and maintain Ukraine’s defence and deterrence capability, bolster the country’s defence industrial base, and support economic recovery and energy security.

The security deal also means that in the event of a future Russian armed attack against Ukraine, there will be consultation “at the highest levels to determine appropriate and necessary measures to support Ukraine and impose costs on Russia”, the statement added.

Separately, some $325bn worth of assets were frozen by the G7, alongside the EU, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The pot of assets is generating about $3bn a year in interest.

Under the G7 plan, that $3bn will be used to pay off the annual interest on the $50bn loan for the Ukrainians, taken out on the international markets.

The money is not expected to arrive until the end of the year but is seen as a longer-term solution to support Ukraine’s war effort and economy.

Speaking at a joint news conference at the summit’s venue in Puglia, southern Italy, President Biden said the $50bn loan would “put that money to work for Ukraine and send another reminder to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that we’re not backing down”.

The US leader stressed that Mr Putin “cannot wait us out, he cannot divide us, and we’ll be with Ukraine until they prevail in this war”.

President Zelensky thanked his American and other allies for their unwavering support.

And referring to the new security deal, he said: “It’s a truly historic day and we have signed the strongest agreement within Ukraine and the US since our independence [in 1991]”.

The G7 group of rich nations, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and US, have been important financial and military supporters of Ukraine as it battles to contain occupying Russian forces.

Other G7 leaders also hailed the $50bn loan deal, with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak describing it as “game changing”.

The $50bn loan is a sizeable pot of money, when compared with the $61bn worth of US military aid that was finally agreed in May.

A senior White House official said the G7-agreed fund will have “multiple” uses, which could include “military support, budget support, humanitarian support, reconstruction support”.

There will be “flexibility in this structure,” the US official added, as some countries “prefer to send their money to budget support and to reconstruction” while others will have funds “earmarked” for military support.

Source: BBC

Law and order, Lifestyle, Politics

US president Joe Biden vows “An eye for an eye” treatment towards perpetrators of Kabul airport blast

Angella Semu

WASHINGTON-(MaraviPost)-The United States president, Joe Biden, has vowed to hunt down attackers who bombed Kabul airport in Afghanistan that killed 72 Afghan civilians and 13 US solders.

Biden disclosed this in an emotional speech from the White Housea on Thursday following the blasts that came hours after Western officials warned of a major attack.

Biden was quoted saying; “To those who carried out these attacks today – as well as anyone who wishes America harm – know this: we will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay”.

On thursday afternoon, two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport to flee the country following the Taliban takeover.

The Islamic State group, ISIS, issued a statement moments after the deadly attack, claiming responsibility for the killings.

Officials disclosed that at least 28 members of the Taliban were among the people killed in explosions.

Prior to the blast, the Taliban sprayed a water cannon at people that gathered at one airport gate to try to drive the crowd away, as someone launched tear gas canisters elsewhere.

However, Taliban has declined any involvement in the attack and it has condemned the attack in a statement saying it occurred in an area controlled by US forces.

The attack marked a deadly escalation of the drama unfolding at the airport following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan on August 15.

It is also the worst single-day loss for American troops in Afghanistan since the August 2011 attack on a Chinook helicopter that killed 30 service members, AP reported.

Biden earlier set 31 August as deadline for the withdrawal of us forces from Afghanistan and he has declined to extend the deadline. He has also promised to evacuate any American citizens who want to leave by that day.

NATO diplomat also said all foreign forces are now aiming to evacuate their citizens and embassy employees from the country by Monday, 30 August.

Meanwhile, health official reported that hospitals in Kabul have been overwhelmed by the massive influx of the numerous casualties.

Law and order, Lifestyle

Sigh of relief! US’ Biden Govt tells visa applicants denied by Trump’s administration to re-apply

Lloyd M’bwana

LAGOS-(MaraviPost)-Most U.S. visa applicants who were denied because of former President Donald Trump’s travel ban on Nigeria and 12 mostly Muslim-majority countries can seek new decisions or submit new applications, the State Department said on Monday, March 8, 2021.

President Joe Biden overturned Trump’s so-called Muslim ban on Jan. 20, his first day in office, calling it “a stain on our national conscience” in his proclamation.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said applicants who were refused visas prior to Jan. 20, 2020, must submit new applications and pay a new application fee.

Those who were denied on or after Jan. 20, 2020, may seek reconsideration without re-submitting their applications and do not have to pay additional fees, Price said.

Applicants selected in the diversity visa lottery prior to the current fiscal year are barred by U.S. law from being issued visas if they have not gotten them already, he said.

The diversity lottery aims to accept immigrants from countries that are not normally awarded many visas.

Since December 2017, after a revised version of the original travel ban was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, some 40,000 people have been barred from entering the United States under the ban, according to State Department data.

During the Trump administration some countries were added and others dropped from the list.

At the end of Trump’s presidency it comprised Nigeria, Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Venezuela and Yemen.

Source: www.expressiveinfo.com