Good morning.
Russia is failing in its war aims and “Ukraine is succeeding”, Washington’s top diplomat has announced after a visit to Kyiv during which he pledged additional military aid, including advanced weapons, and a return of US envoys.
The trip by the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, was the highest-level American visit to the capital since Russia invaded in late February.
During talks, Blinken and Austin told Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the US would provide more than $300m (£235m) in military financing and had approved a $165m sale of ammunition, bringing total US security assistance since the invasion to about $3.7bn. More than $400m will also be split among 15 other countries in central and eastern Europe and the Balkans.
Blinken also said US diplomats returning to Ukraine would probably restaff the consulate in Lviv in western Ukraine before returning to Kyiv, the capital. They previously said the diplomats would start returning this week.
-
What else did Blinken say? He told reporters this morning: “Ukrainians are standing up. They are standing strong. And they are doing that with the support that we have coordinated from literally around the world.
-
What has Russia said? The Kremlin has warned the US against sending more arms to Ukraine, Moscow’s ambassador to Washington told Russian state television. “We stressed the unacceptability of this situation when the United States of America pours weapons into Ukraine,” Anatoly Antonov said.
-
What else is happening? Here’s what we know on day 61 of the invasion.
Victorious Macron vows to unite France after fending off Le Pen threat
The pro-European centrist Emmanuel Macron has vowed to unite a divided France after winning a second term as French president in a decisive victory against the far-right’s Marine Le Pen, who won more than 13m votes in a historic high for her anti-immigration party.
Macron became the first French leader to win re-election for 20 years, scoring 58.54% to Le Pen’s 41.46%.
Addressing a victory rally at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, where his supporters waved French and European flags, Macron pledged to respond “efficiently” to the “anger and disagreement” of voters who chose the far right.
“I know that a number of French people have voted for me today, not to support my ideas but to stop the ideas of the far right,” he said. The president called on supporters to be “kind and respectful” to others because the country was riven by “so much doubt, so much division”.
He added: “I’m not the candidate of one camp any more but the president of all of us.”
-
What were the results? Macron beat Le Pen with a lower margin than the 66% he won against her in 2017. Turnout was also lower than five years ago, with abstention estimated at a record 28%.
-
What’s next for Marine Le Pen? Far-right leader hails “victory in itself” and vows to fight on after winning more than 40% of the vote.
Ocasio-Cortez to unionized Amazon workers: victory is ‘just the beginning’
The progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told Amazon’s first unionized workers in New York yesterday that their victory was “the first domino to fall” in what she expected to be a wave of similar votes for representation across the country.
The leftwing Democrat joined Vermont senator Bernie Sanders on stage in Staten Island to celebrate the historic achievement and to call for workers in more Amazon facilities in the US to follow their example.
“What happened out here … what you guys did in Staten Island was just the beginning. It was the first domino to fall,” she said, noting that workers at a second Amazon sorting facility in the New York borough were voting today.
“We have…
Read More: First Thing: Russia failing in its war aims, says top US diplomat | US news