U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told reporters at the G7 finance leaders’ meeting in Germany: “The message was, ‘We stand behind Ukraine. In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday threw his support behind Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland and Sweden’s move reverses generations of military non-alignment and is the biggest shake-up in European security for decades. Moscow said on Thursday that 1,730 Ukrainian fighters had surrendered so far, including 771 in the past 24 hours. UKRAINE ADVANCESOleksiy Gromov, Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, told an online briefing that Ukraine had recaptured 23 settlements near Kharkiv in the last two weeks.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 20, 2022 03:46 UTC