Kremlin decries US plan to give seized Russian money to Kyiv

Moscow, September 7

The plan of the US to send the seized Russian funds to Ukraine is illegal and any such actions will be contested, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said. The seized funds belong to Russian business people who have been targeted by sanctions.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday that Washington was transferring to Ukraine $5.4 million in “assets seized from sanctioned Russian oligarchs, which will now be used to support Ukrainian military veterans”.

At the same time, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the US supply of depleted uranium weapons to Ukraine was “a criminal act”. The Pentagon has announced a new security assistance package worth up to $175 million for Ukraine, including depleted uranium ammunition for US Abrams tanks. Critics say there are dangerous health risks from ingesting or inhaling depleted uranium dust, including cancers and birth defects.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Zelenskyy during his Ukraine visit overshadowed by a Russian attack that killed at least 17 people, said Kyiv had made important progress in its counteroffensive,

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the Russian attack, which hit a crowded market in the eastern front-line town of Kostiantynivka, which is close to the devastated city of Bakhmut. He said a child was among the dead, and officials said at least 32 people were hurt. Russia did not immediately comment on the attack. Blinken announced a new package of US wartime assistance worth more than $1 billion, including support for Ukraine’s air defences. Meanwhile, a Russian official said five drones were shot down over its 3 regions. — Agencies

$1-billion package

• In Kyiv, Blinken announced a new package of US wartime assistance worth more than $1 billion, including support for Ukraine’s air defences.
• This will help build further momentum, Blinken said at a news conference with Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

Supply of depleted uranium weapons criminal act: Russia

NATO Secretary-General hails counteroffensive

• Ukraine is making progress with a counter offensive started in June to reclaim territory seized by Russia, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said.
• They have breached the defensive lines of the Russian forces and they are moving forward, Stoltenberg told lawmakers at the European Parliament in Brussels.

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