SANCTIONS The sixth EU sanction package against
\nRussia is targeting high officials and high-ranking officers, the banking
\nsector, mass-media and for the first time envisages a complete import ban on Russian
\noil. The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, cautioned that
\nit would not be easy for Europe as some EU countries are strongly dependent on
\nRussian oil. <\/p>\n
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AID The European Union has a duty to support the
\nRepublic of Moldova, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel
\nsays. According to the EU official, the union will step up aid for Moldova in
\nthe ‘field of logistics, of cyberdefence and is looking at ways of adding ‘more
\nmilitary-building capacities’. Michel also says the bloc will assist Chisinau
\nin dealing with the consequences of the spillover from the Russian aggression
\nin Ukraine. According to the Department of state spokesman Ned Price, the USA
\nis committed to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of its
\nimportant partners, Georgia and Moldova.<\/p>\n
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REFUGEES The number of Ukrainian nationals who entered the neighboring
\nRomania on Wednesday rose by 4.9% as compared to the previous day – a border police
\ncommuniqu\u00e9 announced on Thursday. According to this data, on May 4th, 71,581
\npeople entered Romania, out of which 8,148 Ukrainian citizens, a 4.9% rise as
\ncompared to the previous day. 4,583 Ukrainian nationals have crossed their
\ncountry’s border into Romania, while 1,764 have entered Romania via the
\nneighboring Republic of Moldova. Since the onset of the Russian invasion,
\n859,183 Ukrainian citizens have entered Romania. <\/p>\n
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VISIT Over May 5th and 9th,
\nthe first lady of the United States, Jill Biden, will be visiting Romania and
\nSlovakia, countries neighboring Ukraine. According to US sources, Jill Biden
\nwill be meeting US diplomats and military personnel, Ukrainian refugees, aid
\nworkers and teachers. On Sunday, which is celebrated in the USA as Mother’s Day,
\nJill Biden will be seeing Ukrainian mothers and children who were forced to
\nleave their homes because of the war Russia is waging on that country. On May 6th,
\nJoe Biden’s wife will be meeting US servicemen at the airbase in Mihail
\nKogalniceanu, southern Romania. She will then go to Bucharest for talks with
\nthe Romanian government officials, members of the US embassy staff, aid workers
\nand teachers working with the children of the Ukrainian refugees. This tour
\nwill also take Jill Biden to the Slovakian cities of Bratislava, Kosice and
\nVysne Nemecke. <\/p>\n
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UKRAINE Russia announced that its forces would halt
\nshelling the Azovstal steelworks in the city of Mariupol and starting on
\nThursday they would made a humanitarian corridor available for three days to
\nallow for the evacuation of the civilians who had taken refuge in the plant
\ntogether with the last Ukrainian soldiers. Earlier the city mayor Vadim
\nBoicenko had said that fierce heavy fighting was taking place around the plant,
\nwhich was being shelled by the Russian troops with all kind of ordnance.
\nUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called on the UN secretary general
\nAntonio Guterres to intervene for the evacuation of the wounded in Azovstal. He
\nearlier announced that 344 people had been evacuated from Mariupol and its
\nsurroundings. Russia on Wednesday said its
\nforces had practiced simulated nuclear-capable missile strikes in the western
\nenclave of Kaliningrad, amid Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine. <\/p>\n
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(bill)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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