Joe Biden approves £76m transfer of anti-armour missiles to Ukraine
6 April 2022, 09:44
Separately, a driver is dead after crashing a vehicle into the Russian embassy in Bucharest.
US President Joe Biden has approved a 100 million-dollar (£76 million) transfer of Javelin anti-armour missiles to Ukraine.
The transfer brings the total of US military assistance for Ukraine to 2.4 billion dollars (£1.8 billion) since Mr Biden took office in January 2021.
The White House announced late on Tuesday that Mr Biden approved the assistance, which is funded as part of a broader 13.6 billion dollars (£10.4 billion) in aid for Ukraine approved by Congress last month after Russia’s invasion.
An administration official confirmed anonymously that it was for a transfer of the Javelin missiles, which have been requested by the Ukrainian military to combat Russian armour.
Meanwhile, police in the Romanian capital say a car has crashed into the gate of the Russian embassy, bursting into flames and killing the driver.
Police in Bucharest say the sedan rammed into the gate at about 6am (4am London) on Wednesday but did not enter the embassy compound.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said French President Emmanuel Macron has agreed to provide technical and expert support for an investigation into crimes committed by Russian troops in Bucha and elsewhere.
Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday that he also asked Mr Macron to help the people trapped in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.
In an interview with Turkey’s Haberturk television in Kyiv, Mr Zelensky accused Russia of trying to hide its actions in Mariupol and not wanting humanitarian aid to enter the city “until they clean it all up”.
Mr Zelensky said he also expects European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to visit Kyiv soon.
