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Biden unveils migration plan, capping Americas summit roiled by division

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LOS ANGELES, June 10 (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and fellow leaders from the Western Hemisphere on Friday rolled out a new set of measures to confront the regional migration crisis, seeking to salvage an Americas summit roiled by division.

Biden’s aides had touted the migration declaration as a centerpiece of the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas, and 20 countries joined him for a ceremonial unveiling of the plan – though several others stayed away.

Capping the summit’s final day, the White House promoted a series of migrant programs agreed by countries across the hemisphere and Spain, attending as an observer, which pledged a more cooperative approach. But analysts were skeptical that the pledges are meaningful enough to make a significant difference.

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Those measures include the United States and Canada committing to take more guest laborers, providing pathways for people from poorer countries to work in richer ones, and other countries agreeing to greater protections for migrants. Mexico also will accept more Central American workers, according to a White House statement.

“We’re transforming our approach to manage migration in the Americas,” Biden said. “Each of us is signing up to commitments that recognizes the challenges we all share.”

The flags of 20 countries, several fewer than the number attending the summit, festooned the stage where Biden led the rollout. But that number was only achieved after days of U.S. pressure.

It was another sign of tensions that have marred the summit, undermining Biden’s efforts to reassert U.S. leadership and counter China’s growing economic footprint in the region.

That message was clouded by a boycott by several leaders, including Mexico’s president, to protest Washington’s exclusion of leftist U.S. antagonists Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The line-up was thinned to 21 visiting heads of state and government.

The administration, facing a record flow of illegal migrants at its southern border, pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Venezuelan migrants, renewed processing of family-based visas for Cubans and Haitians and eased the hiring of Central American workers. read more

The announcements were part of the unveiling of U.S.-led pact dubbed the “Los Angeles Declaration” and aimed at spreading responsibility across the region to contain the migration problem.

The plan culminates a summit designed to re-establish U.S. influence among its southern neighbors after years of relative neglect under former President Donald Trump. Biden proposed an economic partnership to help the region’s pandemic recovery – though it appears to be a work in progress.

But at the summit’s opening on Thursday, leaders from Argentina and tiny Belize rebuked Biden over the guest list, underscoring the challenge the global superpower faces in restoring its status among poorer neighbors.

On Friday, Chile, Bolivia, the Bahamas, St. Lucia, Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda joined the criticism, though Biden was not present.

“No one should exclude another country,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard, sitting in for President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said from the podium.

U.S. President Joe Biden, Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro, Colombia’s President Ivan Duque and other heads of delegation pose for a family photo during the Ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 10, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Blake

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The sessions this week regularly rang out to U.S. composer’s John Philip Sousa’s “The Liberty Bell” march, popularized by the classic British comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.”

‘THERE’S NOTHING HERE’

U.S. officials scrambled until the last minute to persuade skeptical governments to back the plan.

The leaders vowed in the declaration “to strengthen national, regional and hemispheric efforts to create the conditions for safe, orderly, humane and regular migration.”

Standing together with fellow leaders, Biden insisted “unlawful migration is not acceptable,” and expressed hope that other countries would join the plan.

Eric Olson, director of policy at the Seattle International Foundation, called the declaration a “useful framework” but said it would likely have limited near-term effects because it is non-binding.

Some initiatives listed by the White House were announced previously. Biden’s aides have cast the immigration plan in part to help ease U.S. labor shortages.

Jorge Castaneda, a former Mexican foreign minister, said pledges from the Americas should allow Washington to argue it had secured major commitments, a domestic “political plus” for Biden. But he added: “On substance, there’s nothing here.”

Mexico, whose border with the United States is the main point of migration – backed the declaration, despite Lopez Obrador’s no-show.

The absence from the summit of leaders of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador – the Northern Triangle from which many migrants come – has raised doubts how effective the pledges will be. U.S. officials insisted the turnout did not prevent Washington from getting results.

The declaration encompasses commitments by an array of countries, including Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Belize and Ecuador. There was no mention, however, of pledges by Brazil, Latin America’s most populous nation.

The announcement did not include any U.S. pledges for additional work visas for Mexicans. That would form part Lopez Obrador’s visit with Biden next month, an official said.

Spain pledged to “double the number of labor pathways” for Hondurans, the White House said. Madrid’s temporary work program enrolls 250 Hondurans, suggesting only a small increase is envisioned.

Curbing irregular migration is a priority for Biden. Republicans, seeking to regain control of Congress in November elections, have pilloried the Democratic president for reversing Republican Trump’s restrictive immigration policies.

But migration has had to compete with Biden’s other major challenges, including high inflation, mass shootings and the war in Ukraine.

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Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Daina Beth Solomon, Dave Graham, Matt Spetalnick, Trevor Hunnicutt, Lisanda Paraguassu and Ted Hesson; writing by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Jonathan Oatis, Alistair Bell and Grant McCool

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Algeria suspends Spain treaty, bars imports over Western Sahara

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Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, speaks during the start of a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not pictured), at El Mouradia Palace, the President’s official residence in Algiers, Algeria March 30, 2022. Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via REUTERS

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ALGIERS/MADRID, June 8 (Reuters) – Algeria suspended a 20-year-old friendship treaty with Spain that committed the two sides to cooperation in controlling migration flows, and also banned imports from Spain, escalating a row over Madrid’s stance on Western Sahara.

Algerian state media reported the suspension of the treaty without citing any reason, though Algeria had in March withdrawn its ambassador to Spain for consultations because of the Western Sahara dispute. read more

Spanish diplomatic sources said Spain regretted the decision but remained committed to the content and principle of the treaty.

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Separately, Algeria’s banking association issued a statement telling banks that imports of goods and services from Spain were stopping because the treaty was suspended.

The 2002 treaty called on both sides to “deepen their cooperation in the control of migratory flows and the fight against trafficking against human beings” according to the text recorded in Spain’s official journal.

On Wednesday, 113 undocumented migrants arrived in Spain’s Balearic islands, a route that Spanish authorities said tended to be used by boats coming from Algeria.

Migrant flows have sharply increased across the Mediterranean this year as the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has hit the global economy.

Algeria was angered when Spain said in March it supported a Moroccan plan to offer autonomy to Western Sahara. Algeria backs the Polisario Front movement seeking full independence for the territory, which Morocco regards as its own and mostly controls. read more

A former Algerian official told Reuters that Algiers believed the Spanish government had decided not to preserve good ties with Algeria.

Algeria is a key gas supplier to Spain, but Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has previously said he would not break the supply contract over the row.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said there was no indication that had changed and Spanish Energy Minister Teresa Ribera said Algeria’s gas supply conduct had been exemplary.

Algeria is expected to review prices for any new gas contract with Spanish firms, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The current contract is long-term with prices well under the current market level, the same source, who asked not to be identified, said.

Since the Western Sahara conflict flared again in 2020, nearly three decades after a ceasefire, relations between Algeria and Morocco have sharply deteriorated. read more

Spain’s shift towards Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara ended a dispute between Madrid and Rabat last year involving both the disputed territory and migration. read more

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Reporting by Enas Alashray and Lamine Chikhi; editing by Angus McDowall and Richard Pullin

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World

Biden unveils new Latin America economic plan at reboot summit dogged by dissent

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LOS ANGELES, June 8 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday a proposed new U.S. economic partnership with Latin America aimed at countering China’s growing clout as he kicked off a regional summit marred by discord and snubs over the guest list.

Hosting the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, Biden sought to assure the assembled leaders about his administration’s commitment to the region despite nagging concerns that Washington, at times, is still trying to dictate to its poorer southern neighbors.

The line-up of visiting heads of state and government in attendance was thinned down to 21 after Biden excluded Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, prompting Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and several other leaders to stay away in protest.

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“We have to invest in making sure our trade is sustainable and responsible in creating supply chains that are more resilient, more secure and more sustainable,” Biden told a gala opening ceremony.

Biden is seeking to present Latin American countries with an alternative to China that calls for increased U.S. economic engagement, including more investment and building on existing trade deals.

However, his “Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity,” which still appears to be a work in progress, stops short of offering tariff relief and, according to a senior administration official, will initially focus on “like-minded partners” that already have U.S. trade accords. Negotiations are expected to begin in early fall, the official added.

Biden outlined his plan as he launched the summit, which was conceived as a platform to showcase U.S. leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling record levels of irregular migration at the U.S.-Mexico border.

But his agenda has been undermined by the partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington’s decision to cut out its main leftist antagonists in the region.

As a result, Biden found himself welcoming a larger-than-normal contingent of foreign ministers sitting in for their national leaders as the arriving dignitaries walked one-by-one up a red carpet flanked by a military honor guard.

U.S. officials hope the summit and a parallel gathering of business executives can pave the way for greater cooperation as governments grappling with higher inflation work to bring supply chains stretched by the COVID-19 pandemic closer to home.

Biden also used his speech to preview a summit declaration on migration to be rolled out on Friday, calling it “a ground-breaking, integrated new approach” with shared responsibility across the hemisphere. But he provided few specifics.

Even as Biden deals with priorities such as mass shootings, high inflation and the Ukraine war, the U.S. official said the president is seeking to press the administration’s competitive goals against China with the launch of the new partnership for the region.

The U.S. plan also proposes to revitalize the Inter-American Development Bank and create clean energy jobs

Still, the administration appeared to be moving cautiously, mindful that an initiative that promotes jobs abroad could face U.S. protectionist pushback.

CHINA’S CHALLENGE

The challenge from China is clearly a major consideration.

China has widened the gap on the United States in trade terms in large parts of Latin America since Biden came into office in January 2021, data show.

An exclusive Reuters analysis of U.N. trade data from 2015-2021 shows that outside of Mexico, the top U.S. trade partner, China has overtaken the United States in Latin America and increased its advantage last year. read more

“The best antidote to China’s inroads in the region is to ensure that we are forwarding our own affirmative vision for the region economically,” the administration official said.

Biden’s aides have framed the summit as an opportunity for the United States to reassert its leadership in Latin America after years of comparative neglect under his predecessor Donald Trump.

But diplomatic tensions broke into the open this week when Washington opted not to invite the three countries it says violate human rights and democratic values.

Rebuffed in his demand that all countries must be invited, Lopez Obrador said he would stay away, deflecting attention from the U.S. administration’s goals and toward regional divisions.

Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters the choice by some leaders not to attend reflected their own “idiosyncratic decisions” and that substantive work would still be accomplished.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the United States lacked “moral authority” to lecture on democracy and thanked Lopez Obrador for his “solidarity.”

The leaders of Guatemala and Honduras, two of the countries that send most migrants to the United States, also stayed home, raising questions about the significance of the coming joint migration declaration.

Still, leaders from more than 20 countries, including Canada, Brazil and Argentina, are attending the summit, hosted by the United States for the first time since its inaugural session in 1994.

Biden will use a meeting on Thursday with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to talk about climate change and will also discuss the topic of “open, transparent and democratic elections” in Brazil. read more

Bolsonaro, a populist admirer of Trump who has had chilly relations with Biden, has raised doubts about Brazil’s voting system, without providing evidence, ahead of October elections that opinion polls show him losing to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

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Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Daina Beth Solomon, Matt Spetalnick, Dave Graham, Humeyra Pamuk; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason, Steve Holland and Dave Sherwood; writing by Matt Spetalnick and Dave Graham; Editing by Grant McCool and Richard Pullin

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World

On ‘Easter of war’, pope implicitly criticises Russia over Ukraine

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  • Pope Francis delivers twice-yearly ‘Urbi et Orbi’ message
  • First Easter with public in square since pandemic began
  • Much of pope’s address referred to war in Ukraine

VATICAN CITY, April 17 (Reuters) – Pope Francis implicitly criticised Russia for dragging Ukraine into a “cruel and senseless” conflict and urged leaders to strive for peace as he marked what he called an “Easter of war” on Sunday.

The 85-year-old pope made the comments in his “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) address – traditionally an overview of world conflicts – to about 100,000 people in St. Peter’s Square.

It was the first Easter since 2019 that the public was allowed into the square to hear the twice-yearly address following two years of COVID-19 restrictions.

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Francis dedicated much of the message to Ukraine, comparing the shock of another war in Europe to the shock of the apostles when the gospel says they saw the risen Jesus.

“Our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war. We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence. Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing,” he said.

“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” he said.

Moscow describes the action it launched on Feb. 24 as a “special military operation”.

Francis, who did not mention Russia by name, has already rejected that terminology, calling it a war and previously using terms such as unjustified aggression and invasion.

“Let there be a decision for peace. May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering,” Francis said on Sunday, going on to thank those who had taken in refugees from Ukraine, most of whom have gone to Poland.

Earlier this month in Malta, Francis implicitly criticised Russian President Vladimir Putin over the invasion, saying a “potentate” was fomenting conflict for nationalist interests. read more

Pope Francis leads the Easter Mass at St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, April 17, 2022. REUTERS/Yara Nardi

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NUCLEAR SPECTRE

Francis again raised the spectre of the war leading to a nuclear conflict, something he has spoken of several times since the Russian invasion began.

This time, he quoted the 1955 manifesto by philosopher Bertrand Russell and physicist Albert Einstein: “Shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war?”

Francis, who suffers from leg pain, appeared comfortable during the long Mass that preceded the “Urbi et Orbi” address, and then toured the crowd in the square and a nearby street while sitting in an open white pope mobile.

Afterwards, he read most of the address from the balcony sitting down, standing only at the start and for the final blessing.

On Saturday night, he attended but did not preside at an Easter vigil service, apparently to rest up for Sunday, the most important day in the Christian liturgical calendar. read more

“Please, let us not get used to war,” Francis said, looking down on the square bedecked by tens of thousands of flowers donated by the Netherlands.

“Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets. May the leaders of nations hear people’s plea for peace.”

“I hold in my heart all the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the divided families, the elderly left to themselves, the lives broken and the cities razed to the ground,” he said.

He also called for reconciliation among Israelis and Palestinians and among the people of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which he is due to visit in July.

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Reporting by Philip Pullella
Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and Helen Popper

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East Ukraine focus of new Russian assaults

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  • Russian assaults in east repulsed
  • Rockets destroy Dnipro airport
  • Austria’s Nehammer to meet Putin in Moscow on Monday
  • World Bank forecasts 45% drop in Ukraine GDP output

LVIV, Ukraine, April 11 (Reuters) – Ukrainian troops have repulsed several Russian assaults in the country’s east, the focus of a new offensive by the invading forces, British intelligence said on Monday, while President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this week will be crucial to the course of the war.

Austrian leader Karl Nehammer planned to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday and will call for an end to the conflict. It would be Putin’s first face-to-face meeting with a European Union leader since Russia’s invasion started on Feb. 24. read more

Russian forces were also pushing their offensive to establish control over the southern port city of Mariupol, a key target whose capture would link up areas of Russian control to the west and east.

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The Russian invasion has left a trail of death of destruction that has drawn condemnation from Western countries and triggered concern about Putin’s broader ambitions.

About a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million population have been forced from their homes, cities turned into rubble, and thousands of people have been killed or injured – many of them civilians.

Russian forces have abandoned their attempt to capture the capital Kyiv but are redoubling their efforts in Ukraine’s east. Britain’s defence ministry said Russian shelling continued in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ukrainian forces had beaten back several assaults and destroyed Russian tanks, vehicles and artillery equipment, it said in its regular intelligence bulletin.

The report also said Russia’s continued reliance on unguided bombs greatly increased the risk of further civilian casualties.

Powerful explosions rocked cities in the south and east and air raid sirens blared out across Ukraine early on Monday.

“IT MUST STOP”

President Zelenskiy kept up his tireless campaign to generate international support and rally his countrymen, warning the coming week would be important and tense.

“Russian troops will move to even larger operations in the east of our state. They may use even more missiles against us, even more air bombs. But we are preparing for their actions. We will answer.” he said in a late night video address.

He was due to address South Korea’s parliament by videolink on Monday.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said it was likely the Russians would try to disrupt supply lines and strike at transport infrastructure.

Russia’s defence ministry said high-precision missiles had destroyed the headquarters of Ukraine’s Dnipro battalion in the town of Zvonetsky. read more

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said he would meet Putin on Monday in Moscow.

“We are militarily neutral, but (have) a clear position on the Russian war of aggression against #Ukraine,” Nehammer wrote on Twitter. “It must stop! It needs humanitarian corridors, ceasefire & full investigation of war crimes.”

Since Russia invaded, Zelenskiy has appealed to Western powers to provide more defence help, and to punish Moscow with tougher sanctions including embargoes on its energy exports.

Zelenskiy said he had confidence in his own armed forces but “unfortunately I don’t have the confidence that we will be receiving everything we need” from the United States.

CIVILIAN TOLL

Mounting civilian casualties have triggered widespread international condemnation and new sanctions.

Ludmila Zabaluk, head of the Dmytriv Village Department, north of Kyiv, said dozens of civilian bodies were found in the area.

“There were more than 50 dead people. They shot them from close distance. There’s a car where a 17-year-old child was burned, only bones left. A woman had half her head blown off. A bit farther, a man lying near his car was burned alive.”

Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports.

Moscow has rejected accusations of war crimes by Ukraine and Western countries. It has repeatedly denied targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its southern neighbour. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.

ECONOMIC COST

French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) became the latest company to retreat from Russia, agreeing to sell its stake in Rosbank and the Russian lender’s insurance subsidiaries to Interros Capital, a firm linked to billionaire Vladimir Potanin.

The Russian invasion has triggered a barrage of financial sanctions from the United States, Europe and Britain, prompting Western companies to sell their Russian assets.

SocGen had faced mounting pressure to cut ties with Russia and end its more than 15-year investment in Rosbank.

The World Bank on Sunday forecast the war would cause Ukraine’s economic output to collapse by 45% this year, with half of its businesses shuttered, grain exports mostly cut off by Russia’s naval blockade and destruction rendering economic activity impossible in many areas. read more

The bank forecast Russia’s GDP would contract by 11.2% this year due to punishing Western sanctions.

(This story was refiled to correct dateline.)

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Reporting by Reuters bureaus and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Writing by Lincoln Feast and Angus MacSwan, Editing by Stephen Coates and Nick Macfie

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Battle looms in Ukraine’s east, grave found in town near Kyiv

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  • Civilian grave found near Kyiv, official says
  • Zelenskiy urges oil embargo, seeks arms
  • Johnson promises vehicles, anti-ship missiles
  • Nine trains laid on for evacuation in east, governor says

BUZOVA, Ukraine, April 10 (Reuters) – A grave with at least two civilian bodies has been found in Buzova village near Kyiv, a Ukrainian official said, the latest reported grave discovered after Russian forces withdrew from areas north of the capital to focus their assault on the east.

Taras Didych, head of the Dmytrivka community that includes Buzova, told Ukrainian television earlier that a grave with dozens of bodies had been found in a ditch near a petrol station.

“Right now, as we are speaking, we are digging out two bodies of villagers, who were killed. Other details I cannot disclose,” Didych told Reuters by telephone.

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“There are other people who we cannot find. They could be in different places, but this doesn’t lessen the pain of the loss of loved ones.”

Reuters was not immediately able to confirm the report.

Mounting civilian casualties have triggered widespread international condemnation and new sanctions, in particular over hundreds of deaths in the town of Bucha, to the northwest of Kyiv that until just over a week ago was occupied by Russian forces.

Moscow has rejected accusations of war crimes by Ukraine and Western countries. It has denied targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” to demilitarise and “denazify” its southern neighbour. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as a baseless pretext for war.

Russia has failed to take any major cities since invading on Feb. 24 but Ukraine says Russia is gathering its forces in the east for a major assault and has urged people to flee.

Russia is seeking to establish a land corridor from Crimea, which it annexed in 2014, and the eastern Donbas region, which is partly held by Moscow-backed separatists, Britain’s defence ministry said.

Russian armed forces are also looking to strengthen troop numbers with personnel discharged from military service since 2012, it said in a regular intelligence update on Sunday.

Satellite images released by private U.S. firm Maxar dated April 8 showed armoured vehicles and trucks in a military convoy moving south toward Donbas through a town some 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of Kharkiv.

Some cities in the east are under heavy shelling with tens of thousands of people unable to evacuate.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address late on Saturday Russia’s use of force was “a catastrophe that will inevitably hit everyone.”

Natalia Titova, 62, reacts as she shows her house, which was destroyed by Russian shelling, amid Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine in Chernihiv, Ukraine April 9, 2022. Natalia and her family were staying in the basement, “When the rocket hit our house, we ran into the street, it was very scary” she said. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

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Ukraine was ready to fight for victory while looking for a diplomatic end to the war, he said, and renewed his appeal to Western allies for a total ban on Russian energy products and more weapons for Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson met Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Saturday and pledged armoured vehicles and anti-ship missile systems, alongside support for World Bank loans and Britain’s commitment to move away from using Russian fossil fuels. read more

The European Union, which on Friday banned Russian coal imports among other products, has yet to touch oil and gas imports from Russia. read more

Ukraine itself late on Saturday announced a full ban on imports from Russia, its key trading partner before the war with some $6 billion in annual imports.

“The enemy’s budget will not receive these funds, which will reduce its potential to finance the war,” Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on Facebook.

Johnson was the latest foreign leader to visit Kyiv after Russian forces pulled back from the area, marking a return to some degree of normality for the capital. Italy said it planned to re-open its embassy this month.

NINE TRAINS

But in the east, calls by Ukrainian officials for civilians to flee gained more urgency after a missile struck a train station in the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region, packed with women, children and the elderly trying to get out.

Ukrainian officials said more than 50 people were killed in Friday’s strike.

Russia has denied responsibility, saying the missiles used in the attack were only used by Ukraine’s military. The United States says it believes Russian forces were responsible.

Reuters was unable to verify the details of attack.

Residents of the region of Luhansk would have nine trains on Sunday to get out on, the region’s governor, Serhiy Gaidai, wrote on the Telegram message service.

Russia’s invasion has forced about a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people from their homes, with more than 4 million fleeing abroad, turned cities into rubble and killed or injured thousands.

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Reporting by Reuters bureaus
Writing by Michael Perry and Tomasz Janowski
Editing by Robert Birsel and Frances Kerry

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U.S. to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing war

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A woman holds a child as people fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine queue at the train station in Lviv, Ukraine March 21, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo

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  • Russian invasion triggers massive refugee crisis
  • Several million Ukrainians have fled their homeland

BRUSSELS/WASHINGTON, March 24 (Reuters) – The United States plans to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s invasion, the Biden administration announced on Thursday, after a month of bombardments touched off Europe’s fastest-moving refugee crisis since the end of World War Two.

The announcement coincided with U.S. President Joe Biden’s meeting with European leaders in Brussels on Thursday to coordinate the Western response to the crisis.

More than 3.5 million people have fled since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, according to the United Nations, straining support systems in the neighboring European countries receiving them.

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Russia calls the assault on Ukraine a “special operation.”

The Biden administration said in a statement it would use “the full range of legal pathways,” including the refugee resettlement program, for Ukrainians seeking to come to the United States.

Reuters previously reported the Biden administration will also utilize family-based visas or another temporary process known as “humanitarian parole.” read more

‘BURDEN SHARING’

Before the crisis erupted in Ukraine, Biden launched the nation’s largest U.S. resettlement program since the Vietnam War by accepting about 80,000 Afghans after U.S. troops left Afghanistan following 20 years of war.

Now he has said the United States would welcome Ukrainians fleeing war, but administration officials have said they believe most will want to stay in Europe where they can travel visa-free and have family and friends.

Eastern European countries, most notably Poland, have received hundreds of thousands of people escaping the Russian shelling of cities and towns across Ukraine. Those countries want additional assistance from other nations to take in refugees, with the European Union set to discuss “fair burden sharing.” read more

The United States has also allocated billions of dollars in economic aid to fleeing Ukrainians and countries hosting them.

(This story corrects to about 80,000 Afghan refugees in paragraph 7, not 800,000.)

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Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in Brussels and Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Mica Rosenberg in New York; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Chizu Nomiyama, Andrew Cawthorne and Howard Goller

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Stuck at Mexico border, anti-war Russians sweat their futures as Ukrainians enter U.S.

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TIJUANA, Mexico, March 19 (Reuters) – Russians trying to enter the United States at the Mexican border are frustrated they are not getting in like Ukrainians are, despite leaving their homeland over the invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. officials have let dozens of Ukrainians through this week but Russians remain in limbo, prompting some to camp on the pavement alongside a barbed wire border fence, defying warnings from Mexican authorities to leave.

Irina Zolkina, a math teacher who left Moscow with her four children and her daughter’s boyfriend, burst into tears when a U.S. border agent on Thursday took one look at her stack of Russian passports and shook his head, saying they would have to wait – soon after officials ushered in six Ukrainian men.

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“There are so many years of fear that we’re living in … it’s awful inside Russia too,” she told Reuters in the Mexican border city of Tijuana opposite San Diego, California.

Zolkina showed Reuters a BBC video of her arrest for attending an anti-war protest on Feb. 24, the day Russia invaded Ukraine in what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation” that Western allies have denounced.

She was released a few hours later and left Russia with her children the following week, she said, passing through Tashkent and Istanbul before reaching the Mexican beach resort of Cancun – a common jumping-off point for Russians heading to the U.S. border.

Over 3 million Ukrainians have become refugees, according to the United Nations, most of them in countries bordering Ukraine. Thousands of Russians have also left their country, according to media reports.

Some Ukrainians crossing in Tijuana have been granted permission to stay in the United States for a year. read more

When asked on Thursday about Ukrainians and Russians at the border, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the government was helping people fleeing Ukraine, and that other programs were being considered to expand humanitarian aid.

The U.S.-Mexico border has been closed to most asylum seekers under a coronavirus pandemic policy. read more

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, asked about current policy towards Russians, said the agency makes exceptions to the order on a case-by-case basis for “particularly vulnerable individuals.”

‘UNFAIR’

A couple of dozen other Russians have for several days wrapped themselves in thick blankets to sleep feet from the border wall, hoping U.S. officials will hear their pleas for protection.

A Russian couple embrace as they wait for a humanitarian visa at the San Ysidro Port of Entry of the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico March 15, 2022. Picture taken March 15, 2022. REUTERS/Jorge Duenes/File Photo

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“It’s unfair that we can’t get in,” said Mark, 32, a restaurant manager who came from Moscow with his wife, flying to Mexico via Turkey and Germany in early March.

Both were arrested for three days last year after protesting in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, said Mark, who asked to withhold his last name. He said going back to Russia was not an option after new legislation that imposes up to 15 years in jail for actions found to discredit Russia’s army.

“This is our decision to be here and wait on the floor,” Mark said, seated on a blanket while watching hundreds of tourists and U.S. citizens enter San Diego. “If we leave this place, everyone will forget about this problem immediately.”

Between October 2021 and January, U.S. government data showed border officials encountered about 6,400 Russians, some of whom said they were dissidents and are now in the United States. read more The Russian Embassy said in a statement then that it had contacted U.S. authorities about those citizens.

In Tijuana last week, Mexican officials handed out flyers in Russian listing nearby migrant shelters and a letter saying Russians can request asylum but should not camp at the busy border.

Staying there ran “the risk of the United States deciding to close the crossing for internal security reasons,” said the letter signed by Tijuana migration director Enrique Lucero.

Mexico’s migration institute did not respond to a request for comment.

For now, the Russians are staying put.

Mikhail Shliachkov, 35, seated on a cot under a parasol to take cover from the glaring sun, said he resolved to go to Mexico with his wife the day after the invasion, fearing he would be called up to fight close relatives in Ukraine.

“I don’t want to kill my brothers, you know?” he said, showing a photo of his birth certificate that states his mother was born in Ukraine.

As the Russians wait, U.S. border officials have also turned away asylum seekers from Nigeria, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico, sparking complaints of unfair treatment.

“There’s an element of racism by U.S. authorities,” said Kevin Salgado, 19, a Mexican from the violent state of Michoacan, where he said his father and 16-year-old brother, both members of a community police, were killed.

“Why are they letting the Ukrainians pass? … Can someone explain to us?”

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Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; additional reporting by Dave Graham and Ted Hesson; editing by Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Meaningful talks needed to stop Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskiy says

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  • Ukraine’s Zelenskiy calls for comprehensive peace talks
  • Ukraine says loses access to Sea of Azov
  • U.S. oil services companies suspend or halt Russia operations
  • Biden warns China’s Xi against helping Russia

KYIV/LVIV, Ukraine, March 19 (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Saturday for comprehensive peace talks with Moscow to stop its invasion of his homeland, warning it would otherwise take Russia “several generations” to recover from losses suffered in the war.

Since launching the assault on Feb. 24, Russian troops facing tough resistance have largely stalled in their advance, even as they encroach on the capital Kyiv. Looking to regain momentum, they have laid siege to cities and blasted urban areas to rubble.

Air raid sirens sounded early on Saturday in the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions, but there were no immediate reports of fresh attacks.

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Unprecedented Western sanctions aimed at isolating Russia’s economy have done little to halt what President Vladimir Putin calls a “special operation” to reduce its neighbour’s military capabilities and “denazify” its government.

After Russia said it was “tightening the noose” around the key port of Mariupol, Ukraine’s defence ministry acknowledged on Friday it had “temporarily” lost access to the Azov Sea, which connects to the Black Sea and would be a major loss for Ukraine.

But Western officials say Russia has taken heavy losses with signs of flagging morale among its troops, a trend Zelenskiy alluded to in a video message in which he urged renewed negotiations to end the war.

“I want everyone to hear me now, especially in Moscow. The time has come for a meeting, it is time to talk,” he said early on Saturday. “The time has come to restore territorial integrity and justice for Ukraine. Otherwise, Russia’s losses will be such that it will take you several generations to recover.”

Russia acknowledged on March 2 that nearly 500 of its soldiers had been killed but has given no update since. Ukraine says the number now amounts to many thousands. Reuters could not independently verify the death count.

Kyiv and Moscow reported some progress in talks this week towards a political formula that would guarantee Ukraine security protection outside of the NATO alliance.

But Ukraine said the need for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops remained, and each side accused the other of dragging out the talks. read more

Putin has vowed to continue the invasion until it succeeds, promising tens of thousands of people waving Russian flags at a soccer stadium in Moscow on Friday that Russia “will absolutely accomplish all of our plans.” read more

The United States has repeatedly warned that Russia may turn for assistance to China, the biggest power that has not condemned the assault.

In a video call on Friday, President Joe Biden told China’s President Xi Jinping there would be “consequences” if Beijing provides “material support” to Russia in Ukraine, the White House said. It said sanctioning Beijing was an option. read more

China and Russia deny Beijing is considering giving Moscow military aid. China says it wants to see an end to the conflict.

FLEEING FOR COVER

U.S. oilfield services companies Halliburton Co (HAL.N) and Schlumberger (SLB.N) said on Friday they have suspended or halted Russia operations in response to U.S. sanctions over Moscow’s invasion. read more

Russia, among the world’s largest oil and gas producers, exports 7 million to 8 million barrels per day of crude and oil products. BP PLC , Shell , Equinor ASA (EQNR.OL) and Exxon Mobil have suspended business or announced plans to exit their Russia operations.

In the fourth week of their land, sea and air assault, Russian forces have not captured any big cities and Ukraine’s elected government remains defiant in the capital.

Fleeing bombardment that Ukraine says has struck housing blocks, schools, hospitals and cultural facilities, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians had left for of Lviv in western Ukraine, far from the frontline in the country’s east.

Three missiles landed at an airport near Lviv on Friday, raising fears the city could come under a deeper assault.

Civilians sheltering in eastern Ukrainian cities have had to endure cuts to electricity, heating and water, with food and other vital resources increasingly scarce. More than 3 million refugees have fled over Ukraine’s western border.

Some of the heaviest fighting has been in Mariupol, where some 400,000 people have been trapped for over two weeks. Officials there say fighting has reached the city centre and that near-constant shelling was preventing humanitarian aid from getting in.

Rescue workers were still searching for survivors of a Mariupol theatre flattened by Russian air strikes on Wednesday. Russia denies hitting the theatre. read more

In his video address, Zelenskiy said there was no information about how many people had died in the theatre, where hundreds had been sheltering. More than 130 people had been rescued, he said.

As people continue trying to flee through “humanitarian corridors” arranged by Ukrainian and Russian officials, the World Food Programme has warned that food supply chains in the country are collapsing.

Key infrastructure such as bridges and trains have been destroyed by bombs and many grocery stores and warehouses are empty, said Jacob Kern, WFP emergency coordinator for the Ukraine crisis.

“Inside Ukraine our job is in effect to replace the broken commercial food supply chains,” he said, calling this a “mammoth task”. read more

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Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Rami Ayyub and Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by William Mallard

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World

Three EU leaders to visit Kyiv to show Ukraine support

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  • Updates with EU leaders’ trip
  • Shells hit Kyiv
  • Czech, Polish, Slovenian leaders head to Kyiv
  • Zelenskiy aide says war over by May

LVIV, Ukraine, March 15 (Reuters) – Three European prime ministers were travelling to Kyiv on Tuesday, the first foreign leaders to visit the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its invasion in a striking symbol of Ukraine’s success so far in fending off Russia’s assault.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki announced plans for the visit, saying they and Slovenia’s Janez Jansa would meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy’s office confirmed the plans.

“The purpose of the visit is to confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine,” Fiala said, adding the three leaders would present a broad support package for Ukraine.

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Morawiecki’s aide, Michal Dwoczyk, told reporters the delegation had crossed the Polish-Ukraine border and was heading to Kyiv by train, in what the Polish leader said was a historic mission.

“It is our duty to be where history is forged. Because it’s not about us, but about the future of our children who deserve to live in a world free from tyranny,” Morawiecki said.

The three leaders will arrive in a city that is still under bombardment, where around half of the 3.4 million population has fled and many are spending nights sheltering in underground stations. Two powerful explosions rocked the capital before dawn on Tuesday, and emergency services said two people died when an apartment building was struck. read more

Nearly three weeks into a war which Western countries say Moscow believed it would win within days, Europe’s biggest invasion force since World War Two has been halted at the gates of Kyiv, with major road and train routes from the capital still open. Huge armoured columns of Russian forces have failed to capture any of Ukraine’s 10 biggest cities, despite bombardment that has reduced some residential areas to rubble.

Hosting foreign dignitaries in his own capital would be a remarkable symbolic success for Zelenskiy, who rejected offers to evacuate early in the war, staying under bombardment to rally his nation with nightly messages from inside the city.

In his most confident public statement yet, Zelenskiy called on Russian forces to surrender, saying they and their officers already knew that the war was hopeless.

“Russian conscripts! Listen to me very carefully. Russian officers! You’ve already understood everything: You will not take anything from Ukraine. You will take lives. There are a lot of you. But your life will also be taken. But why should you die? What for? I know that you want to survive,” he said.

AT CROSSROADS

One of Zelenskiy’s top aides said the war would be over by May – and could even end within weeks – as Russia had effectively run out of fresh troops to keep fighting.

“We are at a fork in the road now: there will either be a peace deal struck very quickly, within a week or two, with troop withdrawal and everything, or there will be an attempt to scrape together some, say, Syrians for a round two and, when we grind them too, an agreement by mid-April or late April,” Oleksiy Arestovich said in a video.

“I think that no later than in May, early May, we should have a peace agreement, maybe much earlier: we will see,” Arestovich said.

The remarks projected a new-found confidence that Ukraine’s heavily outnumbered forces have made it impossible for Russia to achieve what Western countries believe was Moscow’s aim – to install in Kyiv pro-Russian leaders.

Russia says it is not targeting civilians and is carrying out a “special operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine, which Kyiv and its allies call a baseless pretext to invade a democratic nation of 44 million people.

In the city of Rivne in western Ukraine, hundreds of miles from the combat zone, Ukrainian officials said 19 people had been killed in a Russian air strike on a television tower. If confirmed, that would be by far the worst attack so far on a civilian target in the northwestern half of the country.

Ukrainian and Russian delegations were due to resume peace talks later on Tuesday by video link.

So far no progress has been announced at those talks, which have focused on allowing civilians to evacuate and bring aid to surrounded cities, especially the eastern port of Mariupol. Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed there since Russia laid siege to the city of 400,000 in the war’s first week. Russian troops permitted a first column of cars to leave the city on Monday but attempts to enact a local ceasefire to bring in aid convoys have failed for 10 straight days. Ukrainian officials said they would try again on Tuesday.

While armoured columns bearing down on Kyiv appear to have been halted at the city’s outskirts, Russian forces have had more success in the south, capturing several small cities near the Black and Azov sea coasts.

In an intelligence update on Tuesday, Britain’s ministry of defence reported demonstrations against Russian occupation in the cities of Kherson, Berdyansk and Melitopol, with Russian troops firing warning shots to disperse crowds in Kherson. Russian forces were reported to have abducted the mayors of Melitopol and Dniprorudne, it said.

‘NO WAR’

The war has brought economic isolation upon Russia never before visited on such a large economy. In Russia itself, it has been accompanied by a near total crackdown on free speech, with all major independent media shut down and Western social media apps switched off. Reporting that refers to “war” or “invasion” is banned.

In a rare anti-war protest during the main news programme on the main state TV channel, an employee stood behind the anchor and held up a sign in English and Russian that said: “NO WAR. Stop the war. Don’t believe propaganda. They are lying to you here.” She was quickly arrested. read more

The United Nations says more than 2.8 million people have now left Ukraine since the start of the war.

“I am fleeing with my child because I want my child to stay alive,” said a Ukrainian woman named Tanya who said she travelled from the town of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine across the Danube river to Romania. “Because the people that are there now are Russians, Russian soldiers, and they kill children.”

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Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Peter Graff; Editing by Tomasz Janowski

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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