US President Joe Biden speaks at the White House on January 25 – Photo: EPA
US President Joe Biden has agreed to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. This is considered an important step forward for Western efforts to support Ukraine, especially in terms of tanks.
America sent tanks to Ukraine, allies responded?
At the White House on January 25 (US time), President Biden emphasized the solidarity of the US and Europe in supporting Ukraine.
“Putin hopes European and American resolve weaken. He expects our support for Ukraine to crumble over time. He was wrong, wrong from the beginning and still wrong now,” he said. Biden said.
Reuters news agency, citing information from the White House, said the US tanks would take months to reach Ukraine. However, the series of recent moves from Europe are more or less symbolic of a united front in support of Ukraine, especially on the tank issue.
Earlier, Germany confirmed that it would provide 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine to help Kiev against Russian forces. This decision paved the way for countries such as Poland, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Norway to supply Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine react to the Western decision to send tanks
* Russia is angry with Germany. Before Germany accepted to supply Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Russia expressed anger and said that Berlin had abandoned “historic responsibility to Russia”, stemming from Nazi crimes during World War II.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to Washington said that the US sending tanks to Ukraine was “a flagrant provocation”.
* Ukraine praises US decision. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the key to helping Ukraine fight Russia is speed and number of weapons. He praised the decision of the US and Germany to send tanks, and called on countries to continue to support Ukraine with other military needs.
The Ukrainian leader said he had spoken with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, and called on NATO countries to support more long-range missiles and aircraft to supplement their cams. cooperation of the US and Germany in the field of tanks mentioned above.
* Thai Navy plans to build a second destroyer two. The Royal Thai Navy has asked the cabinet for 15 billion baht ($457 million) over the next five years to fund a plan to build a new frigate.
The Royal Thai Navy received the Korean-built HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej worth 14.6 billion baht at Chuk Samet, January 7, 2019 – Photo: Bangkok Post
According to VNA, the Royal Thai Navy has submitted to the cabinet 15 billion baht (about 457 million USD) over the next five years to pay for the construction of a new frigate.
The proposal was made by the Ministry of Defense of Thailand in the draft budget plan for the fiscal year 2024, which begins on October 1.
Local media said the proposal was first considered by the cabinet on January 24 and was agreed in principle.
The first proposed disbursement in fiscal year 2024 is 1.7 billion baht (nearly $52 million). Currently, shipbuilders in South Korea, Spain, Russia and France have expressed interest in the frigate project.
The source said an important condition is that the selected company will also have to transfer technology to the Thai Navy. The planned frigate is the second of two that the Thai Navy is scheduled to be issued.
The first destroyer is HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej built in Korea and delivered in 2019.
In related news, speaking at a recent Defense Council meeting, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, as Defense Minister, also talked about developing a strategic plan. country to develop its defense industry.
Colonel Chitanat Punnothok, deputy spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, said that under the plan, which runs from this year to 2027, Thailand is expected to be less dependent on imported parts for military hardware while developing the industry. its own defense industry.
* North Korea sealed into 5 days to fight respiratory disease. Theo NK News On January 25, the government of the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, ordered a temporary blockade of the city for 5 days after recording an increase in the number of respiratory illnesses. It is not clear what this respiratory illness is.
According to the government announcement, a “special anti-epidemic phase has been formed”. Diplomatic missions in Pyongyang were also asked not to let staff go outside, and residents were advised to take their temperature four times a day and send the results to the hospital by phone.
* The number of people crossing the border into the US dropped sharply. On January 25, the US Department of Homeland Security said that the number of illegal border crossings into the US has plummeted after the administration of President Joe Biden launched a new program that allows migrants to apply from their home countries. to enter the US.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows that the new program, which only applies to migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, has reduced the number of people crossing the border illegally by 97%. allowed to enter the US from these 4 countries.
Under the program, up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela can enter the US each month, and the US can deport to Mexico an equal number of illegal migrants from the four countries mentioned above. .
In a press release, the US Department of Homeland Security stated that as of December 11, 2022, an average of 3,367 people crossed the border into the US every day of the week. However, since the implementation of the new program as of January 24, the average number of people crossing the border illegally into the US each day of the week has decreased to only 115 people.
Migrants climb over the Mexico-US border wall, near the El Chaparral border gate in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico – Photo: AFP/VNA
Additional border control measures to curb illegal immigration and widen safe, legal pathways to entry into the United States were announced and implemented by President Joe Biden on January 5. .