Ukraine Recap: Biden, Zelenskiy to Meet in Washington Next Week

Bloomberg News
·3 min read

(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House next week, according to a person familiar with the plans. This will be Zelenskiy’s second White House visit. He was last in Washington in December 2022. He will first travel to New York for the United Nations General Assembly, the person said. The two leaders last met at the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan, in May.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Ukraine said it had destroyed a Russian air defense compound on the western coast of Crimea, stepping up pressure alongside efforts to cut off Moscow’s land route to resupply the strategic peninsula it annexed in 2014. Ukraine’s troops targeted a $1.2 billion Russian S-400 “Triumph” missile complex. Russia said earlier it had shot down 11 drones over Crimea — making no reference to the missile compound - and six near Bryansk, north of the Ukrainian border. Russia also said it destroyed a Ukrainian naval drone.

The Biden administration announced almost 100 sanctions on Russia’s elites, its financial institutions and its supply chains in a major new effort to squeeze Russian President Vladimir Putin war machine. Beyond Russian companies and people, the new round also targets a Finland-based network that ships foreign electronics to Russia and two Turkish companies, among others. Russia expelled two US diplomats it accused of “illegal activities.

Putin accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s invitation to visit Pyongyang “at a convenient time,” the official Korean Central News agency reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Putin plans to visit at an unspecified time. Before this week’s Putin-Kim talks, North Korea had been sending ammunition to Russia for a month, including missiles for multiple launch rocket systems and shells for tanks, said the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency.

Latest Coverage

  • Biden Set to Host Ukraine’s Zelenskiy at White House Next Week

  • US Targets Almost 100 Russians and Suppliers With New Sanctions

  • Ukraine Says It Hit Russian Missile Unit in Western Crimea

  • Cargill Sells Stake in Russian Grain Terminal to Local Company

  • Strong-Arming Ukraine Would Backfire for West, Czech Envoy Says

  • Putin Is Gathering the Enemies of the West: Marc Champion

  • EU Energy Chief Calls for Curbs on Rising Russian LNG Imports

  • Smart Bombs ‘Fairly Effective’ Against Russia, US General Says

Markets

Benchmark US crude oil hit $90 a barrel for the first time since November, the latest milestone in a surge driven by output cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia amid record global consumption.

Wheat futures resumed declines after briefly rising above $6 a bushel during trading on Wednesday. Ample Black Sea supplies, primarily from top exporter Russia, “fueled a six-week decline in prices on both sides of the Atlantic,” according to CRM Agri.

Coming Up

  • Kim Jong Un continues Russian visit

  • Russian Grain Union meeting in Sochi

  • Belarus leader Lukashenko meets with Putin on Friday

  • Bank of Russia meets on interest rates on Friday

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2023 Bloomberg L.P.