The United States has expressed readiness to accept refugees from Ukraine, but expects that most of them will settle in Europe. This was stated by White House press secretary Jen Psaki at a regular briefing on Thursday, February 24. Broadcast posted on site American administration.
“We are ready,” she said, answering a related question from one of the journalists. “But we certainly expect that many, if not most, will want to go to Europe, to neighboring countries. So we are also working with European countries on what they need, what are the [их] opportunities,” Psaki stressed.
She added that Washington is in contact with European partners on the issue of creating conditions for the placement of Ukrainian refugees.
“We have been holding discussions with our allies on this topic for some time now,” a White House spokeswoman said.
Earlier on the same day, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced that the European Union had developed a plan to receive possible refugees from Ukraine in the border states of the union.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his special televised address, announced that a special operation would be carried out in the Donbass in order to protect the civilian population. After that, Vladimir Zelensky accused Russia of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout the country.
On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the LPR and DPR. Also, the Russian leader and the heads of both republics Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. The documents were ratified the next day by both the republics themselves and the Russian State Duma.
On February 18, the evacuation of residents of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to Russia began. The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said that elderly people, children and women would be evacuated. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to pay 10 thousand rubles to refugees arriving in the Rostov region from Donbass. On February 24, more than half of the evacuated residents of Donbass who filed applications received a lump sum payment in the Rostov region.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been carrying out a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.
The situation in Donbass escalated on February 17, 2022. In the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces was reported, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
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