TV News LIES

The US has not stopped military aid to Ukraine after newly sworn in US secretary of state Marco Rubio announced he would pause foreign aid grants for 90 days, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday. The Ukrainian leader did not clarify whether humanitarian aid had been paused. Ukraine relies on the US for 40% of its military needs. “I am focused on military aid; it has not been stopped, thank God,” he said at a press conference alongside Moldovan president Maia Sandu.

Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready to offer coal to Moldova, which is gripped by an energy crisis after flows of Russian gas through Ukraine stopped in the new year. Moldova accuses Moscow of refusing to send gas by other routes. “Russia’s latest move has been to orchestrate an energy crisis,” Sandu told reporters. The Moldovan president said energy prices had shot up in areas controlled by her government, and the situation was worse in a region held by pro-Russian separatists who relied on Russian energy and were subject to daily power cuts.

US president Donald Trump could fulfil his promise to end the war in Ukraine, but only if he includes Kyiv in any talks, Zelenskyy said on Saturday. Zelenskyy also said the terms of any deal that might arise under Trump were still unclear – and might not even be clear to Trump himself – because Russian president Vladimir Putin had no interest in ending the war. Putin has said he is ‘ready for negotiations” on the war in Ukraine with Trump and suggested it would be a good idea for them to meet.