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NATO Ministers Discuss Russia's Invasion; Zelenskyy to Address US Congress

by VOA News

   Russia continued attacks on Ukraine's capital Kyiv Wednesday, as NATO
   ministers gathered to discuss Russia's invasion and Ukrainian President
   Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to deliver a video address to U.S.
   lawmakers in Washington.

   NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said members in Brussels would
   be discussing both the "immediate consequences of Russia's invasion"
   and long-term efforts to strengthen NATO's collective defense.

   "NATO has a responsibility to ensure that this crisis does not escalate
   beyond Ukraine, and that's also the reason why we have increased the
   presence in the eastern part of the alliance," Stoltenberg told
   reporters.

   He has said potential actions could include placing "substantially more
   forces" in the eastern area, along with increases in naval and air
   deployments, missile defense systems and holding larger and more
   frequent military exercises.

   U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin highlighted support for Ukraine's
   ability to defend itself as well as U.S. commitment to aid any NATO
   ally that comes under attack.

   "I think our presence here sends a signal to the world that we remain
   united in our support of Ukraine, and we condemn Russia's unprovoked
   and unjustified invasion into Ukraine," Austin said.

   Russia has objected to NATO's presence near its borders and sought a
   guarantee that Ukraine will never join the alliance. NATO insists
   countries are free to make their own decisions about security ties.

   While Ukraine is not part of NATO, seven NATO countries share borders
   with Russia, Ukraine or Russian ally Belarus, and that proximity has
   raised concerns of a wider conflict.

   Stoltenberg said there are 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe and another
   40,000 troops under direct NATO command, as well as hundreds of
   thousands more on heightened alert across NATO nations.

   In Washington, members of the U.S. Congress will hear directly from
   Ukraine's president.

   Zelenskyy's speech, delivered by video to lawmakers, follows similar
   addresses to Britain's House of Commons, Canada's Parliament and the
   European Parliament in recent weeks as he pushes for more military and
   humanitarian support from the international community.

   U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak at the White House a few
   hours later, unveiling $800 million in new aid to Ukraine that will
   push the total amount of assistance announced by the United States
   during the past week to $2 billion.

   He is due to join other NATO leaders in Brussels for a summit taking
   place March 24, the one-month anniversary of Russia launching its
   invasion after denying for months it planned to do so.

   On the ground in Ukraine, the country's emergencies agency reported a
   12-story residential building was among the targets hit by Russian
   forces.

   Despite continued shelling of Kyiv and other cities, Russian ground
   forces are making "limited to no progress '¦ in achieving their
   objectives" in Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said Tuesday in
   an assessment shared with VOA.

   The official said Kyiv "remains under heavy bombardment by long-range
   fire, with civilian targets to include residential areas being struck
   with increasing frequency. But leading elements of Russian forces have
   not appreciably advanced on the city."

   Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continued Tuesday, and while
   previous rounds yielded no major breakthroughs, Zelenskyy said in a
   video message early Wednesday that there were some signs of progress.

   "The meetings continue, and, I am informed, the positions during the
   negotiations already sound more realistic. But time is still needed for
   the decisions to be in the interests of Ukraine," he said.

   Zelenskyy suggested a compromise on Tuesday, saying Ukraine was ready
   to accept security guarantees that fall short of its goal to join NATO.

   "If we cannot enter through open doors, then we must cooperate with the
   associations with which we can, which will help us, protect us ... and
   have separate guarantees," Zelenskyy said.

   Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said it was premature to predict
   whether the peace talks will lead to progress.

   "The work is difficult, and in the current situation, the very fact
   that (the talks) are continuing is probably positive," Peskov said.

   The United Nations said Tuesday the number of people who have fled
   Ukraine since the invasion began had reached 3 million.

   VOA's White House bureau chief Patsy Widakuswara and national security
   correspondent Jeff Seldin and Congressional correspondent Katherine
   Gypson contributed to this report.

   Some information also came from The Associated Press, Agence
   France-Presse and Reuters.