Ending a three-day diplomatic trip to Europe with a fiery speech outside a centuries-old castle in Warsaw, Mr. Biden described the Russian invasion of Ukraine as the “test of all time” in a post-World War II struggle between democracy and autocracy, “between liberty and repression, between a rules-based order and one governed by brute force.” “In this battle, we need to be cleareyed,” Mr. Biden said in front of a crowd waving Polish, Ukrainian and American flags. “This battle will not be won in days or months, either. We need to steel ourselves for the long fight ahead.” Mr. Biden used the speech to bolster a key NATO ally on Ukraine’s western border that has served as a conduit for Western arms and has absorbed more than 2 million refugees fleeing the violence, more than any other country in Europe. And he sought to prepare the public, at home and abroad, for a grinding conflict that could drag on for weeks, months or longer. Just hours before the event, missiles struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, about 50 miles from the Polish border, extending Russia’s monthlong assault on major cities and civilian populations — and undercutting Russian statements a day earlier suggesting Moscow might be scaling back its goals in the war. Smoke billowing from a building in Lviv after a Russian missile attack on Saturday.Credit…Vladyslav Sodel/Reuters While declaring that “the Russian people are not our enemy,” Mr. Biden unleashed an angry tirade against Mr. Putin’s claim that the invasion of Ukraine is intended to “de-Nazify” the country. Mr. Biden called that justification “a lie,” noting that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is Jewish and that his father’s family was killed in the Holocaust. “It’s just cynical,” Mr. Biden said. “He knows that. And it’s also obscene.” It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Biden’s apparent call for the ouster of Mr. Putin was one of the off-the-cuff remarks for which he is known or a calculated jab, one of many in the speech. But it risks confirming Russia’s central propaganda claim that the West, and particularly the United States, is determined to destroy Russia. The White House immediately sought to play down the remark. “The president’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region,” a White House official told reporters. “He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.” Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said Mr. Putin’s fate was not in the hands of the American president. “It’s not for Biden to decide,” Mr. Peskov told reporters. “The president of Russia is elected by the Russians.” Experts were divided on whether Mr. Biden’s remark was intended to signal he believed Mr. Putin should be ousted, a political escalation that could have consequences on the battlefield. President Biden with President Andrzej Duda of Poland in Warsaw.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, said in a tweet that the White House’s attempt to walk back the president’s comment was “unlikely to wash.” “Putin will see it as confirmation of what he’s believed all along,” he wrote. “Bad lapse in discipline that runs risk of extending the scope and duration of the war.” Mr. Biden’s statement that Mr. Putin could no longer remain in power could be perceived “as a call for regime change,” said Michal Baranowski, a senior fellow and director of the Warsaw office of the German Marshall Fund, a nonpartisan policy organization. But he said he did not read it that way, and that Mr. Putin was unlikely to, either. “I think just what President Biden was saying is, how can such a terrible person be ruling Russia?” said Mr. Baranowski. “In that context, I don’t think it will lead to any escalation with Russia.” Earlier in the day, Mr. Biden stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and assured him that the United States considered its support for NATO to be a “sacred obligation.” “America’s ability to meet its role in other parts of the world rests upon a united Europe,” Mr. Biden said. While Poland’s right-wing, populist government has been embraced by Washington and Brussels as a linchpin of Western security, it has provoked quarrels with both in the past. Mr. Duda, however, thanked Mr. Biden for his support, saying that Poland stood ready as a “serious partner, a credible partner.” At a stadium in Warsaw, Mr. Biden met with Ukrainian refugees in his first personal encounter with some of the civilians ensnared in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis caused by weeks of indiscriminate Russian shelling of Ukrainian cities and towns. President Biden meeting Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times After speaking with the refugees, including several from the city of Mariupol, which has been flattened by Russian shelling, Mr. Biden called Mr. Putin “a butcher.” That comment also prompted a retort from Mr. Peskov, who told TASS, the Russian state-owned news agency, that “such personal insults narrow the window of opportunity” for bilateral relations with the Biden administration. Mr. Biden also met with Ukrainian ministers in his first in-person meeting with the country’s top leaders since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, part of what American officials hoped would be a powerful display of the United States’ commitment to Ukrainian sovereignty. “We did receive additional promises from the United States on how our defense cooperation will evolve,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, told reporters, the Reuters news agency reported. But Mr. Biden gave no indication that the United States was willing to budge from its previous rejection of Ukrainian requests to establish a no-fly zone over the country or to provide it with the MIG-29 warplanes that Poland offered some weeks ago. As Mr. Biden visited Poland, two missiles struck Lviv, rattling residents who ran into underground shelters as smoke rose into the sky. Lviv’s mayor said a fuel storage facility was on fire, and a regional administrator said five people had been injured. President Biden with Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleskii Reznikov of Ukraine in Warsaw on Saturday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times Although Russian missiles hit a warplane repair factory near Lviv on March 18, the city, which had 700,000 residents before many of them fled the war, has otherwise been spared the airstrikes and missile attacks that have hammered other Ukrainian population centers. Mr. Biden ended his trip one day after a senior Russian general suggested that the Kremlin might be redefining its goals in the war by focusing less on seizing major cities and instead targeting the eastern Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian forces for eight years. Mr. Biden’s administration was quietly exploring the implications of the statement by the Russian general, Sergei Rudskoi, which indicated that Mr. Putin might be looking for a way out of the brutal invasion he launched with confidence and bravado a month ago. Western intelligence agencies have in recent weeks picked up chatter among senior Russian commanders about giving up the effort to take Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and other key areas in the north and west of the country, according to two people with access to the intelligence. Instead, the commanders have talked more narrowly of securing the Donbas region. Military analysts have cautioned that General Rudskoi’s statement could be intended as misdirection while Russian forces regroup for a new offensive. A Ukrainian soldier inspecting the remains of a destroyed Russian T90 tank on the outskirts of Kyiv on Friday. Russian commanders indicated they were shifting their focus from Kyiv and other major cities to eastern Ukraine.Credit…Ivor Prickett for The New York Times Only weeks ago, Mr. Putin threatened to fully absorb Ukraine, warning that, “The current leadership needs to understand that if they continue doing what they are doing, they risk the future of Ukrainian statehood.” In the latest instance of nuclear saber-rattling, Dmitri A. Medvedev, the vice chairman of Russia’s Security Council, restated Moscow’s willingness to use nuclear weapons against the United States and Europe if its existence was threatened. “No one wants war, especially given that nuclear war would be a threat to the existence of human civilization,” Mr. Medvedev told Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency in excerpts from an interview published on Saturday. Hoping to rally his country and encourage negotiations with Moscow, Mr. Zelensky said that the success of a Ukrainian counteroffensive that began two weeks ago was “leading the Russian leadership to a simple and logical idea: Talk is necessary.” For the moment, large portions of Ukraine remain a battleground in what has increasingly come to resemble a bloody stalemate between the smaller Ukrainian army and Russian troops that have struggled with logistical problems. On Saturday, Russian forces entered the small northern city of Slavutych, near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where they seized the hospital and briefly detained the mayor, a regional military official said. In a picture obtained by Reuters from social media on Saturday, Russian soldiers and armored vehicles stood guard in the distance as dozens of residents of Slavutych, Ukraine, chanted, “Glory to Ukraine.” Credit…via Reuters In response, dozens of residents unfurled the…
title: “Live Updates Ukraine Russia War The New York Times " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-16” author: “Caroline Ackerley”
His assistants pressured the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a night of Oscar support. He re-released his own Netflix TV show in the middle of the war. President Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor who became Ukraine’s wartime leader, has dedicated most of his public appearances to appeals to Western nations for deadly weapons to fight the Russians: tanks, jets and missiles. But Mr. Zelensky, who before starring starred in romantic comedies and played stand-up routines, also pushed celebrities and artists to talk about his country, in what his associates say is a worthwhile effort to consolidate. Ukraine’s global soft power advantage over Russia. “We live in the modern world and we know that opinion leaders and celebrities are important,” said Ekaterin Zguladze, a former interior minister who is now involved in the Ukrainian government’s quest to gain the support of artists, musicians and celebrities. “It is not only politicians who shape the world.” Ms Zguladze added: “Right now, there is real solidarity around the world for Ukraine. “And this solidarity is not due to the divisive images of devastated cities and human tragedy, but to the values we all share.” But Ukraine’s appeal to the academy, the Oscar-winning organization, met with its own drama. Ahead of the show, organizers said the war would take place and honor the loss of life, but did not promise to show a video of Mr. Zelensky, said Brian Keith Etheridge, a Los Angeles-based comic book writer. She helped coordinate the Ukrainian government’s approach to the academy, with the help of Mila Kunis, a Ukrainian actress, and her husband, Ashton Kutcher. “The concern they have given us is that they do not want to politicize the show too much,” Etheridge said. If Zelensky just says ‘thank you’, he will remind people and he could raise millions of dollars. It’s such a giant platform just to show his face. “ Sean Penn in Rzeszow, Poland, last week after leaving Ukraine, where he was shooting a documentary about the Russian invasion. Sean Penn, who was shooting a documentary in Ukraine when the war broke out, called for a boycott of the Oscars if Mr Zelensky was not allowed to appear on video and promised to smell his own awards if the academy snubbed the Ukrainian leader. The statues of the awards are made of gilded bronze. If the producers of the Oscars did not allow the emergence of “the leadership in Ukraine, which takes bullets and bombs for us, along with the children of Ukraine trying to protect, then I think each of these people, and every part of this decision “It would be the most obscene moment in all of Hollywood history,” Penn told CNN. Speaking at a news conference Thursday, the producers said they intended to honor the dead of the war, but did not commit to a video presentation by Mr Zelensky. “We will be very careful about how we recognize where we are in the world,” Will Packer, producer of the Oscars, told a news conference Thursday. Preparations at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Saturday, before Sunday’s Oscars. Credit … Ruth Fremson / The New York Times Comedian Wanda Sykes, one of the co-hosts of the ceremony, wrote of Mr. Zelensky, “Isn’t he busy right now?” Mr. Zelensky did not appear on the show. Ms. Kunis spoke about the war when she appeared on television to present a performance by Reba McEntire of her song from Mrs. Kunis’ film “Four Good Days.” Before handing over the show to Ms. McEntire, Ms. Kunis said, “Recent world events have left many of us feeling frustrated.” “But when you see the strength and dignity of those facing such a catastrophe, it is impossible not to be moved by their resilience,” Kunis said. “One can only feel awe of those who find the strength to continue to fight through the unimaginable darkness.” The show also featured three screens of gold text on a black background after Ms. McDair’s performance, inviting viewers to donate to the humanitarian effort. “While film is an important way to express our humanity in times of conflict, the reality is that millions of families in Ukraine need food, medical care, clean water and emergency services,” the message read. “Resources are scarce and we – collectively and as a global community – can do more.” While Mr Zelensky’s aides pushed for support during the show in whatever form it took, seeking any way to gain the support of audiences in the West, the value of supporting celebrities in a shooting war is not universally recognized in Ukraine. “Ultimately, what is happening on the ground is important,” said Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. “Everyone does what they can. I do not know if another speech by Zelensky will make a difference. But it is good that those who start it want to do it. “Everyone wants to help in every way.” But Mr Danylyuk said “in the end, you need results”, such as supplies of fighter jets, tanks or missiles to the Ukrainian army. Mr Zelensky pressured all fronts to convey to a wider audience, and especially to arms-supplying countries, the moral imperative of supporting Ukraine in the war. Mr Zelensky addresses Congress via video this month. He has worked to persuade the general public of the moral imperative of supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Credit … Sarahbeth Maney / The New York Times “In general, Zelensky is really following the news from Hollywood and looking for opportunities for support,” said Sergi Letschenko, an adviser to the president’s chief of staff. The push for support for Ukraine during the Oscars began a week ago, after Mr Zelensky spoke on a video call from Kyiv with Mr Kutcher and Ms Kunis to thank the couple for raising $ 35 million for Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian aid. GoFundMe campaign, said Mr. Leshchenko. Ms. Kunis recently starred in “Breaking News in Yuba County” and has planned a Netflix-based movie, “Luckiest Girl Alive.” “Ukrainians are proud and brave people who deserve our help in times of need,” he wrote in the fundraising appeal. “This unjust attack on Ukraine and on humanity in general is catastrophic and the Ukrainian people need our support.” Following the video call, Mr Zelensky’s aides sought a last-minute venue at the Oscars. Mr Zelensky has always had a strong sense of image and narrative in politics. Earlier this month, he said he knew his repeated televised calls for resistance and continued presence in the besieged capital had made him a symbol of bravery in many countries. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a press conference earlier this month in Kyiv, the capital. Credit … Lynsey Addario for the New York Times The Oscars are also a natural fit for his government’s call for humanitarian aid, as many of his top aides are also veterans of the film industry. The head of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, was a media lawyer and film producer. The head of the domestic intelligence service, Ivan Bakanov, was the director of the Kvartal 95 studio. , “The Inlaws”. Before becoming president of Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky played a president in his own TV series, “Servant of the People,” which aired on Netflix this month. The character, a teacher, is pushed to the presidency after he goes on a riot against corruption, which is filmed by his students in a video that goes viral. Maria Varenikova contributed to the report from Kyiv and Matt Stevens from New York.
title: “Live Updates Ukraine Russia War The New York Times " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-03” author: “Blanche Simpson”
His assistants pressured the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a night of Oscar support. He re-released his own Netflix TV show in the middle of the war. President Volodymyr Zelensky, the actor who became Ukraine’s wartime leader, has dedicated most of his public appearances to appeals to Western nations for deadly weapons to fight the Russians: tanks, jets and missiles. But Mr. Zelensky, who before starring starred in romantic comedies and played stand-up routines, also pushed celebrities and artists to talk about his country, in what his associates say is a worthwhile effort to consolidate. Ukraine’s global soft power advantage over Russia. “We live in the modern world and we know that opinion leaders and celebrities are important,” said Ekaterin Zguladze, a former interior minister who is now involved in the Ukrainian government’s quest to gain the support of artists, musicians and celebrities. “It is not only politicians who shape the world.” Ms Zguladze added: “Right now, there is real solidarity around the world for Ukraine. “And this solidarity is not due to the divisive images of devastated cities and human tragedy, but to the values we all share.” But Ukraine’s appeal to the academy, the Oscar-winning organization, met with its own drama. Ahead of the show, organizers said the war would take place and honor the loss of life, but did not promise to show a video of Mr. Zelensky, said Brian Keith Etheridge, a Los Angeles-based comic book writer. She helped coordinate the Ukrainian government’s approach to the academy, with the help of Mila Kunis, a Ukrainian actress, and her husband, Ashton Kutcher. “The concern they have given us is that they do not want to politicize the show too much,” Etheridge said. If Zelensky just says ‘thank you’, he will remind people and he could raise millions of dollars. It’s such a giant platform just to show his face. “ Sean Penn in Rzeszow, Poland, last week after leaving Ukraine, where he was shooting a documentary about the Russian invasion. Sean Penn, who was shooting a documentary in Ukraine when the war broke out, called for a boycott of the Oscars if Mr Zelensky was not allowed to appear on video and promised to smell his own awards if the academy snubbed the Ukrainian leader. The statues of the awards are made of gilded bronze. If the producers of the Oscars did not allow the emergence of “the leadership in Ukraine, which takes bullets and bombs for us, along with the children of Ukraine trying to protect, then I think each of these people, and every part of this decision “It would be the most obscene moment in all of Hollywood history,” Penn told CNN. Speaking at a news conference Thursday, the producers said they intended to honor the dead of the war, but did not commit to a video presentation by Mr Zelensky. “We will be very careful about how we recognize where we are in the world,” Will Packer, producer of the Oscars, told a news conference Thursday. Preparations at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Saturday, before Sunday’s Oscars. Credit … Ruth Fremson / The New York Times Comedian Wanda Sykes, one of the co-hosts of the ceremony, wrote of Mr. Zelensky, “Isn’t he busy right now?” Mr. Zelensky did not appear on the show. Ms. Kunis spoke about the war when she appeared on television to present a performance by Reba McEntire of her song from Mrs. Kunis’ film “Four Good Days.” Before handing over the show to Ms. McEntire, Ms. Kunis said, “Recent world events have left many of us feeling frustrated.” “But when you see the strength and dignity of those facing such a catastrophe, it is impossible not to be moved by their resilience,” Kunis said. “One can only feel awe of those who find the strength to continue to fight through the unimaginable darkness.” The show also featured three screens of gold text on a black background after Ms. McDair’s performance, inviting viewers to donate to the humanitarian effort. “While film is an important way to express our humanity in times of conflict, the reality is that millions of families in Ukraine need food, medical care, clean water and emergency services,” the message read. “Resources are scarce and we – collectively and as a global community – can do more.” While Mr Zelensky’s aides pushed for support during the show in whatever form it took, seeking any way to gain the support of audiences in the West, the value of supporting celebrities in a shooting war is not universally recognized in Ukraine. “Ultimately, what is happening on the ground is important,” said Oleksandr Danylyuk, a former secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council. “Everyone does what they can. I do not know if another speech by Zelensky will make a difference. But it is good that those who start it want to do it. “Everyone wants to help in every way.” But Mr Danylyuk said “in the end, you need results”, such as supplies of fighter jets, tanks or missiles to the Ukrainian army. Mr Zelensky pressured all fronts to convey to a wider audience, and especially to arms-supplying countries, the moral imperative of supporting Ukraine in the war. Mr Zelensky addresses Congress via video this month. He has worked to persuade the general public of the moral imperative of supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Credit … Sarahbeth Maney / The New York Times “In general, Zelensky is really following the news from Hollywood and looking for opportunities for support,” said Sergi Letschenko, an adviser to the president’s chief of staff. The push for support for Ukraine during the Oscars began a week ago, after Mr Zelensky spoke on a video call from Kyiv with Mr Kutcher and Ms Kunis to thank the couple for raising $ 35 million for Ukrainian refugees and humanitarian aid. GoFundMe campaign, said Mr. Leshchenko. Ms. Kunis recently starred in “Breaking News in Yuba County” and has planned a Netflix-based movie, “Luckiest Girl Alive.” “Ukrainians are proud and brave people who deserve our help in times of need,” he wrote in the fundraising appeal. “This unjust attack on Ukraine and on humanity in general is catastrophic and the Ukrainian people need our support.” Following the video call, Mr Zelensky’s aides sought a last-minute venue at the Oscars. Mr Zelensky has always had a strong sense of image and narrative in politics. Earlier this month, he said he knew his repeated televised calls for resistance and continued presence in the besieged capital had made him a symbol of bravery in many countries. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine at a press conference earlier this month in Kyiv, the capital. Credit … Lynsey Addario for the New York Times The Oscars are also a natural fit for his government’s call for humanitarian aid, as many of his top aides are also veterans of the film industry. The head of the presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, was a media lawyer and film producer. The head of the domestic intelligence service, Ivan Bakanov, was the director of the Kvartal 95 studio. , “The Inlaws”. Before becoming president of Ukraine, Mr. Zelensky played a president in his own TV series, “Servant of the People,” which aired on Netflix this month. The character, a teacher, is pushed to the presidency after he goes on a riot against corruption, which is filmed by his students in a video that goes viral. Maria Varenikova contributed to the report from Kyiv and Matt Stevens from New York.
