Republican leaders of the U.S. Senate visited the Ukrainian capital of Kiev (Russian name Kyiv) on the 14th to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Senate Republican Representative Mitch McConnell, Senator Susan Collins, Assemblyman John Barrasso, and Assemblyman John Conin were also present on the agenda.
Immediately after the meeting, President Zelensky said on social media that “this visit is a strong signal of the bipartisan support of the U.S. Congress and the people of Ukraine.”
“Thank you for your leadership in helping us fight not only for Ukraine, but also for democratic values and freedom,” he added.
The visit by Senate Republican leaders to Ukraine today comes two weeks after House Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, visited the country.
On the 30th of last month, Chairman Pelosi had a meeting with President Zelensky in Kiwu with Adam Schiff, Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and Gregory Micks, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
■ Russia and Finland cut off electricity supply
Russia has stopped supplying electricity to Finland, which officially declared its membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the 14th.
Finland’s power management authority told the local media that “no power has been supplied from Russia since 00:00 that day.”
Russian electricity accounts for 10% of Finland’s total electricity use. It has been found that the current shortage of electricity is being supplied urgently from Sweden.
The day before (13th), ‘RAO Nordic’, a subsidiary of Inter RAO, a Russian state-owned energy company, issued a statement and announced that “electricity supply will be stopped from the 14th because the electricity import payment has not been paid.”
Although the disclosed reason is a delay in electricity bill payment, local media are analyzing that the Russian authorities have begun retaliatory measures against the decision to join NATO.
Finland officially announced its intention to join NATO on the 12th through a joint statement by Finnish President Sauli Ninistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin.
Shortly after the announcement, Russian authorities announced retaliatory measures.
Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement at the time that “Finland’s accession to NATO will cause serious damage to the maintenance of stability and security in the Nordic region,” and warned that it would respond “militarily, technically and in other ways.”
■ Putin warns Finland that joining NATO is a mistake
On the 14th, Finnish President Ninistö called directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to explain his plans to join NATO.
“The conversation with Putin was direct and frank and did not result in aggravation of the situation,” he said in a statement shortly after the call. He went on to add that “he considered it important to avoid tensions between the two countries.”
The Kremlin also immediately confirmed the call through a press release.
The Kremlin said that Putin had stressed that “Russia does not pose any security threat to Finland” and that there is no reason for Finland to join NATO.
It went on to introduce that Putin said that “[Finland’s]abandonment of the traditional military neutralism policy would be a mistake”.
■ U.S.-Russian defense ministers first call after the outbreak of war
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine in a phone call with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the 13th.
The Pentagon said on the same day that Secretary of State Austin delivered this position to Secretary Shoigu and emphasized the importance of maintaining communication lines between the two countries.
The two men spoke for the first time after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. The last call was on February 18th.
The US and Russia have maintained a hotline since March 1, the early days of the Ukraine war, to prevent misjudgment and escalation of tensions.
Austin has tried several times to talk to Shoigu through the hotline, but it is known that the Russian side has refused.
It is not known why Minister Shoigu suddenly accepted the call on the 13th.
In a phone call with VOA on the 14th, a U.S. military intelligence official estimated that “it seems to have something to do with the recent war situation, such as the retreat of the Russian army from Kharkiv (Ukrainian second city, Russian name Kharkov).”
The Russian Ministry of Defense briefly told local media that today’s call was to discuss international security issues, including the situation in Ukraine.
This is Jongsu Oh from VOA News.
