Harris, Poland president insist they are 'unified' after dispute over jets for Ukraine: LIVE UPDATES
Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish President Andrzej Duda insisted Thursday that the United States and Poland are "unified," after the U.S. rejected the country’s proposal to send MiG-29 planes to the Ukrainian military to help it fight Russia.
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Russia and China are doubling down on claims that the United States is conducting biological weapons research in "biolabs" across war-torn Ukraine – assertions that leaders in Washington and Kyiv have called absurd.
Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyanski has requested the United Nations Security Council discuss the alleged research at a meeting Friday, the Kremlin-aligned media outlet RIA Novosti reported earlier.
The report also highlighted allegations from Russia’s Defense Ministry that claim the U.S. spent $200 million on Ukrainian labs for a purported "bioweapons program." Russia claims its troops uncovered evidence during Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, which he calls a "special military operation."
"This is exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack," Olivia Dalton, a spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, told Fox News Digital Thursday. "Russia has a well-documented history of using chemical weapons and has long maintained a biological weapons program in violation of international law."
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he joined President Biden and Colombian President Ivan Duque at the White House Thursday.
"From countering Russian aggression in Ukraine, to our partnership to address irregular migration and climate change, the U.S.-Colombia relationship is strong and effective," Blinken tweeted of the meeting.
Blinken just got back from a week-long trip to Europe where he met with NATO allies.
Biden said Thursday he planned to designate Colombia as a major non-NATO ally.
After Russian President Vladimir Putin floated the idea of nationalizing companies that refuse to do business in Russia over the Ukraine invasion, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki suggested Thursday that such a move would further damage Russia economically.
"The rights of those investors and colleagues who are staying in Russia and are working in Russia, must be fully protected," Putin said Thursday, according to a report in RIA Novosti. "I am asking the government to keep this in mind. Those who are planning to close business - we must act decisively… As the head of the government proposed, we must introduce external control and to transfer these business to those who want to work."
"We have seen reports that Russia may be considering seizing the assets of U.S. and international companies that have announced plans to suspend operations in Russia or to withdraw from the Russian market," Psaki noted in a string of tweets Thursday.
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White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to fears that Russia may seek to nationalize businesses that pulled out of the country in response to its invasion of Ukraine.
"We have seen reports that Russia may be considering seizing the assets of U.S. and international companies that have announced plans to suspend operations in Russia or to withdraw from the Russian market," Psaki said on Twitter Thursday.
"These decisions are ultimately up to companies," she continued in a subsequent tweer. "As President Biden said earlier this week, we welcome the decisions of companies to exit Russia because they want no part of Russia’s war of choice against Ukraine.
"Any lawless decision by Russia to seize the assets of these companies will ultimately result in even more economic pain for Russia. It will compound the clear message to the global business community that Russia is not a safe place to invest and do business."
Psaki cited a prominent Russian business leader with ties to Putin who argued such a move would "take us back to 1917" and spawn "global distrust of Russia on the part of investors."
"Russia may also invite legal claims from companies whose property is seized. We stand with American companies who are making tough decisions regarding the future of their Russian operations," Psaki concluded.
Ret. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis spoke Thursday on "Jesse Watters Primetime" about whether the West should respond if Russian President Vladimir Putin decides to use chemical or biological warfare.
DANIEL DAVIS: That is my biggest fear. I won't lie because there will be so much pressure on the world and on Biden to do something and to maybe escalate into it. But we just have to hold firm because as bad as this is right now, it is contained. If we go in and do something like that and we use military force and Russia then ... expands it beyond, now you're not going to see that stuff just in Kyiv, in Kharkiv, maybe you're going to see it in Warsaw or in Germany and some of these other countries and God forbid, a nuclear strike anywhere NATO. And we just can't risk that, no matter how much our heartstrings pull us. We have to be firm.
Russian President Vladimir Putin offered support for the idea of nationalizing businesses that have announced exits from the Russian market in response to the country's invasion of Ukraine.
“The rights of those investors and colleagues who are staying in Russia and are working in Russia, must be fully protected," Putin said Thursday, according to a report in RIA Novosti. "I am asking the government to keep this in mind. Those who are planning to close business - we must act decisively . . . As the head of the government proposed, we must introduce external control and to transfer these business to those who want to work.”
The comments come as many companies have abandoned Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, further pressuring a Russian economy that has been hit by sanctions from the U.S. and European allies.
A Russian airstrike on a maternity hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol killed three people on Wednesday, the latest example of nearly two dozen attacks on Ukrainian health care facilities since Russian forces invaded the country last month, according to the World Health Organization.
A dozen people have died and 34 people have been injured in 21 attacks on health care facilities over the past three weeks, WHO reports. Five additional attacks impacted either ambulances or health care personnel.
The attack against the hospital in Mariupol killed a child and two adults, and injured 17 others, according to Ukrainian officials. Images of the aftermath showed pregnant women covered in dust and blood as they were assisted by emergency workers out of the wreckage.
Satellite imagery of a large Russian military convoy taken over the past 24 hours near Kyiv shows that it has "largely dispersed and redeployed."
The imagery released by Maxar Technologies show that "the large Russian military convoy that was last seen northwest of Kyiv near Antonov Airport has largely dispersed and redeployed," according to the company, citing their imagery from Thursday morning local time.
"The large Russian military convoy that was last seen northwest of Kyiv near Antonov Airport has largely dispersed and redeployed. Armored units are seen maneuvering in and through the surrounding towns close to the airport, elements of the convoy further north have repositioned and are deployed in forests/along tree lines near Lubyanka with towed artillery howitzers in firing positions nearby. Damage to commercial and residential property is seen in and around Kyiv and also in Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv," a company spokesperson said.
A group of 42 GOP Senators led by Sens. Mitt Romney and Joni Ernst wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to allow for the transfer of MiG fighter jets to Ukraine after the request was rejected by the Department of Defense.
“We urge your Administration to work with Poland and our NATO allies to expedite the transfer of urgently-needed airpower, air defense systems, and other combat and support capabilities from the United States, NATO allies, and other European partners to Ukraine," the letter reads.
“While we commend the lethal aid that your Administration has sent to Ukraine thus far, we strongly disagree with your decision to delay and deny Poland the option to transfer fighter jets to Ukraine. Your Administration champions the $1 billion in defense articles provided to Ukraine over the past 13 months and has definitively stated there are no restrictions in your current suite of authorities to adequately respond to Russia's lawless and bloody invasion of Ukraine," it continued.
“We implore you to act without delay to provide urgently needed airpower that will bolster the ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to defend their country and help save civilian lives.”
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the United States cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine "to escalate into a nuclear war," warning that now is the time "for prudence" and to avoid any "direct conflict" with Russia.
In an interview with Fox News Digital about his new memoir, "One Damn Thing After Another," in which he details long-term national security challenges facing the U.S., Barr said he agreed with the Biden administration's moves to reject Poland's proposal to send MiG-29 planes to the Ukrainian military.
The Pentagon this week said Poland's proposal raised concerns regarding the deployment of warplanes from a U.S. base in a NATO-allied nation to combat Russian forces.
Ukraine has been pleading with Western allies to send military aid and implement a no-fly zone over the country. The U.S. and its NATO allies have repeatedly said a no-fly zone over Ukraine could bring about a direct conflict with Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied the development of "weapons of mass destruction" in Ukraine, vowing a "severe" response if Russia were to use such weapons during their ongoing invasion of the country.
"I am the President of an adequate country, an adequate nation. And the father of two children. And no chemical or any other weapons of mass destruction were developed on my land. The whole world knows that. You know that. And if Russia do something like that against us, it will get the most severe sanctions response," Zelenskyy said in a video posted to social media Thursday, according to an English translation.
With the war in Ukraine raging on, the country is in critical need of medical supplies. One nonprofit here in the U.S. is trying to fill that void.
Project C.U.R.E. has 30,000 volunteers for their seven locations nationwide. They’ve been working nonstop since Russia invaded Ukraine, and every single piece of equipment or supplies in the distribution centers are donations, but the journey to get these supplies to the war zone certainly isn’t easy.
Volunteers have been hard at work at the Project C.U.R.E. International Headquarters and distribution center in Centennial, Colorado. Lyn Tison has been a volunteer with the organization for a year and says things have gotten much busier since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russia has requested a UN Security Council meeting aimed at discussing alleged U.S. military biological activity in Ukraine, according to a report from RIA Novosti, a news organizations whose views align with those of the Kremlin.
The report says that a Russian Ministry of Defense briefing found that the U.S. spent north of $200 million on biological laboratories in Ukraine as part of the U.S. bioweapons program.
As more than 2 million refugees from Ukraine begin to scatter throughout Europe and beyond, some are carrying valuable witness evidence to build a case for potential war crimes.
More and more, the people who are turning up at border crossings are survivors who have fled cities hardest hit by Russian forces.
"It was very eerie," said Ihor Diekov, one of the many people who crossed the Irpin River outside Kyiv on the slippery wooden planks of a makeshift bridge after Ukrainians blew up the concrete span to slow the Russian advance.
A group of Republican senators held a press conference Thursday urging the Biden administration to supply Ukraine with fighter jets.
“I just want to let people know that on March 6, the United States policy was greenlighting MiGs to the Ukraine if Poland did it. Now that Poland's asked us to be part of the transfer system, we all of a sudden say no,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who called such a move “dishonorable.”
The Biden administration has so far refused to provide combat aircraft to Ukraine over fears that such a move could escalate tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said she and her colleagues will “keep pressing” the administration to provide the aircraft.
“We have seen that with this president time and time and time again, where he says, ‘We can't do this. We can't provide that,’” said Ernst. “Until the media and others provide pressure on him, and then he reverses course. So we are going to continue to put the pressure on this president to stand up to abide by” the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.
Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta is making a temporary change to its hate speech policy to allow for calls for violence against Russian soldiers and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to reporting from Reuters.
Users of the social media platforms in countries including Russia, Poland, and Ukraine will allow some posts calling from violence against Russian troops in the context of the invasion, as well as calls for violence against Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi released a statement about the ongoing situation at the Chernobyl Nuclear site, saying that the Ukrainian government has lost all communication with the plant and will not be able to provide updated data to IAEA.
"Ukraine informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it had lost today all communications with the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the day after the Russian-controlled site lost all external power supplies," Grossi said.
"According to the information received before the loss of communication, both of the site’s power lines had been damaged, in effect disconnecting it from the grid, the Ukraine’s regulatory authority said. To ensure continued power, these lines would either need to be repaired or the generators holding fuel for two days would require additional diesel deliveries. The diesel generators were powering systems important for safety, including those for spent nuclear fuel and water control and chemical water treatment, the regulatory authority said, adding that the operator was not able to maintain some functions such as radiation monitoring, ventilation systems, and normal lighting."
Grossi also expressed concern for workers at the site, who have been held there since the Russian military takeover of the plant.
"Operating staff must be able to fulfil their safety and security duties and have the capacity to make decisions free of undue pressure,” Grossi said.
Just over two weeks have passed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, as Kremlin forces pushed ahead in their efforts to advance on the capital city of Kyiv.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Thursday that 1,506 civilian casualties were reported in Ukraine since Feb. 24. The office recorded 549 people killed in Ukraine and 957 hurt.
Meanwhile, 2,316,002 people have fled the nation for neighboring countries since Feb. 24, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported Thursday.
Republican senators are blasting the Biden administration's refusal to provide combat aircraft to Ukraine, expressing skepticism over the claim that such a move could escalate tensions between the U.S. and Russia.
Several members of the Senate Intelligence Committee called out the administration during a Thursday hearing, unsatisfied with what intelligence officials were saying.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., noted that according to U.S. intelligence in January, Russia did not want "a direct conflict with the United States." Cotton doubted that this would have changed, considering the Russian military's struggling invasion of Ukraine.
"You think they're more likely to want a conflict now, after Vladimir Putin has seen the performance of his army?" Cotton asked Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines. "You think they're more likely to want a piece of us now than they were two months ago?"
Fox News' Harris Faulkner provides updates on the atrocities being unleashed on Ukrainians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the government via teleconference in Moscow on Thursday. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo/AP)
CIA Director William Burns said Thursday that although Russian President Vladimir Putin has tightened his grip on what the media is saying within his country, he can’t hide the truth of what is happening in Ukraine forever.
“He has intensified his domination of the state-run media and his strangulation of independent media, especially in recent years and particularly since the invasion of Ukraine began,” Burns said.
But “I don't believe that he's going to be able to seal Russians off entirely from the truth,” Burns continued.
“There are lots of Russians who have VPN accounts, who have access to YouTube to this day who have access to information. I don’t believe he can wall off indefinitely Russians from the truth especially as realities begin to puncture that bubble,” the CIA director told lawmakers.
“The realities of killed and wounded coming home, an increasing number. The realities of the economic consequences for ordinary Russians,” he added. “The realities of the horrific scenes of hospitals and schools being bombed next door in Ukraine and of civilian casualties there as well.”
Russia's President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Belarus counterpart Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on February 18, 2022.(Photo by SERGEI GUNEYEV/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
The exiled opposition leader of Belarus urged the West Thursday to slap tougher sanctions on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko over his backing of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Lukashenko has full responsibility for this attack on Ukraine,” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said at an event at London’s Chatham House thinktank, according to the Associated Press. “I believe that it’s time for democracy to show its teeth, and it’s crucial to put diplomatic, economic and political pressure on the Belarus regime.”
Tsikhanouskaya has alleged that Belarus’ military is effectively under Russian control.
She called for Lukashenko to be suspended from all international organizations, Belarus state banks to be cut from the international SWIFT payment network and for imports from state enterprises to be banned.
Many countries have already announced sanctions on the Belarus government, but Tsikhanouskaya said this is not enough.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Goldman Sachs has become the first Wall Street firm to suspend its operations in Russia following the country's invasion of Ukraine.
"Goldman Sachs is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements," the bank told FOX Business in a statement. "We are focused on supporting our clients across the globe in managing or closing out pre-existing obligations in the market and ensuring the well-being of our people."
As of December 2021, Goldman Sach's total credit exposure in Russia was $650 million and its total market exposure was $414 million, according to a recent 10-K filing. Meanwhile, its market exposure in Ukraine was $236 million as of December 2021, while its credit exposure in the country was "not material."
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A destroyed tank is seen after battles between Ukrainian and Russian forces on a main road near Brovary, north of Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday. (AP/Felipe Dana)
More than two weeks have passed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, as Kremlin forces pushed ahead in their efforts to advance on the capital city of Kyiv.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Thursday that 1,506 civilian casualties were reported in Ukraine since Feb. 24. The office recorded 549 people killed in Ukraine and 957 hurt.
Meanwhile, 2,316,002 people have fled the nation for neighboring countries since Feb. 24, which the majority – an estimated 1,412,503, escaping to Poland, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported Thursday.
Vice President Kamala Harris was in Poland on Thursday. There, she met with Polish President Andrzej Duda amid reports of conflict between Warsaw and Washington over whether Poland should send fighter jets to a NATO and U.S. base in Germany and ultimately to Ukraine.
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A Ukrainian man said he discovered his wife and two children were killed near Kyiv after identifying graphic photos on Twitter.
"I recognized the luggage and that is how I knew," Serhiy Perebyinis told The New York Times.
Perebyinis was helping his sick mother in eastern Ukraine when his wife decided to flee their home in Irpin, near Kyiv, with their two children last week after their apartment was hit by Russian shelling, the New York Times reported.
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Tatiana Kostyuk, 38, from Zaporozhye, gives food to a child after fleeing Ukraine at a border crossing in Medyka, Poland, on Wednesday. (AP/Visar Kryeziu)
An estimated 2.3 million people have fled Ukraine as of Thursday, including 1 million children, according to UNICEF.
Most have fled to neighboring countries Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova and Romania. Nearly 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees have fled to Poland, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported Thursday.
"The number of children on the move is staggering, an indication of how desperate the situation for children and families in Ukraine has become," said Afshan Khan, UNICEF regional director for Europe and Central Asia. "Children are leaving everything they know behind in search of safety. This is heartbreaking."
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The overwhelming majority of people fleeing Ukraine are avoiding Belarus as a landing spot, according to U.N. data. (Fox News)
Russian state media is reporting Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko will meet Friday in Moscow.
Belarus, which borders Ukraine to its north, held joint military exercises with Russia in the days leading up to its invasion of Ukraine and has acted as a springboard for the attacks.
Also, out of the 2,316,002 people estimated by the U.N. Thursday to have fled Ukraine, just 765 are estimated to be taking refuge in Belarus, compared to nearly 1.5 million in its neighbor Poland.
An Army veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in Iraq broke down Thursday on "Fox & Friends" why urban warfare will be difficult in Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.
Retired Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia said the invasion has not gone well for Vladimir Putin so far and may get worse as the fighting moves to more urban areas.
"This is a humiliation. This is allegedly a world power that has top five military in the world. And look, for the outnumbered aspect that Russia has with material, technology and true power, why you would want to then take that into a house-to-house situation where it nullifies all that technology?" he told host Brian Kilmeade.
Bellavia said "home-field advantage is going to go to the defender" as this war goes on.
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A man rides a bicycle in front of a damaged by shelling apartment building in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
Ukrainian economic adviser Oleg Ustenko said Thursday that the Russian military is estimated to have destroyed at least $100 billion worth of infrastructure, buildings and other assets in Ukraine, Reuters reports.
Ustenko reportedly added that the ongoing Russian invasion has forced half of Ukraine's businesses to shut down, while the other are operating below capacity.
Current Russian military activity in Ukraine. (Fox News)
Thursday’s high-level talks in Turkey between Ukrainian and Russian foreign affairs counterparts ended in no progress for a potential cease-fire or for protecting civilians in the heavily bombarded Mariupol, even after Ukraine suggested a "neutrality" proposal with security guarantees from world powers.
In the most senior interaction since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, the failed talks between Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and his counterpart, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, lasted just 90 minutes in the Turkish coastal city of Antalya.
Russia reportedly rejected Ukraine’s "neutrality" proposals that promised international security guarantees, according to the Financial Times. The two sides discussed a 24-hour cease-fire but did not make progress, as Russia was still seeking "surrender from Ukraine," Kuleba said.
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Yulia Zhdanova, a mother of two, survived a Russian bombing of her hometown. She captured video of the explosion in Chernihiv that ultimately killed 47 people.
Russian forces destroyed a residential apartment building next door to Zhdanova’s home. Her family is now trying to find safety.
She recalled the day of the explosion as being very difficult. On "Fox & Friends" Thursday, she said everyone was exhausted from hearing warning alerts every 20 minutes or so.
"People had to run into the shelter all the time – into the basement," Zhdanova told host Ainsley Earhardt.
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Ukraine has announced Thursday that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has approved a law allowing the seizure of property owned by the Russian state or its residents.
"This Law defines the legal basis for the forcible removal of property rights (including in cases where military necessity so requires) of the Russian Federation, as a state that has started a full-scale war against Ukraine, and its residents," read a statement from Ukraine's parliament.
"According to the Law, the forcible confiscation of property of the Russian Federation and its residents in Ukraine is carried out without any compensation (reimbursement) of their value, given the full-scale aggressive war waged by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people," it added.
A former Canadian soldier known as one of the world’s deadliest snipers arrived to Ukraine to help the nation defend itself from Russia.
"I want to help them. It's as simple as that," the Canadian man, only identified as Wali to protect his family’s safety, told CBC. "I have to help because there are people here being bombarded just because they want to be European and not Russian."
Wali is a former sniper with the Royal Canadian 22nd Regiment who previously fought in the Afghanistan War. He has a kill distance of over two miles, according to the Mirror, and is known as one of the world’s most deadly snipers.
He crossed into Ukraine on March 1 along with three other former Canadian soldiers after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on foreigners to join the war against Russia’s invasion.
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French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to the Associated Press.
A statement from the French presidency said that any solution to the crisis must be negotiated between Russia and Ukraine.
The three leaders agreed to stay in close contact in the coming days, the statement added.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the main issue at a summit of European Union heads of states and government at the Versailles Palace, in France on Thursday and Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(Fox News)
Tanker owners are starting to avoid transporting Russian oil and gas over concerns that their vessels could get stopped mid-shipment, leading to costly delays, according to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday.
Those in the industry tell the newspaper that at least a dozen tankers moving Russian crude have been either temporarily seized or delayed at European ports by customs officials over the last week.
“They’ll hold your ship to see if it has any connection with blacklisted Russian companies,” one tanker owner based in Greece told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not worth it.”
“Because of the complexity we will stay away from Russia,” Lars Barstad, the chief executive of tanker owner Frontline Management A/S, also said to the newspaper. "There is a lot of money to be made, and it’s still legal, but very difficult to do in a good manner.”
Mariupol native Julie Pavlova joins 'Fox & Friends' from Kyiv to share her experience with trying to get in touch with her family and friends after Russia's attacks on the city.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, right, shakes hands with US Vice President Kamala Harris during their meeting at Belwelder Palace, in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris and Polish President Andrzej Duda insisted Thursday that the United States and Poland are "unified," after the U.S. rejected the country’s proposal to send MiG-29 planes to the Ukrainian military.
During a joint press conference in Warsaw, Poland, just hours after the Pentagon made clear that the U.S. does not support Poland’s proposal for the U.S. and NATO to deliver MiG-29s to the Ukrainian military, Harris and Duda maintained that the relationship between the United States and Poland has "become even stronger" amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
Harris said her visit to Poland is "an expression of the enduring and important relationship between the United States and Poland that again has been long-standing, but in particular on the issue of Ukraine is unified and is clear."
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Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted Thursday that he has met with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Turkey "to discuss ways of ensuring safety and security of nuclear facilities in Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion."
"I insist: Russia must immediately withdraw forces from Chornobyl and Zaporizhzhia NPPs to avert a disaster in Europe," he said.
Yulia Zhdanova, a mother of two, describes her life since the Russian invasion began and recalls seeing bodies on the ground after the house next to hers was bombed.
Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday in Poland that the U.S. is pledging another $50 million to the United Nation’s world food program to assist with humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
Harris said the people of Ukraine have “suffered immensely” and more than 1.5 million of them have fled to Poland.
“When we talk about humanitarian aid it is because yes the assistance is necessary but what compels us also is the moral outrage that all civilized nations feel when we look what is happening to innocent men, women, children, grandmothers, grandfathers who are fleeing everything they've known,” Harris added.
Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking in Poland Thursday alongside President Andrzej Duda, said “we have been witnessing for weeks, and certainly in the last 24 hours atrocities of unimaginable proportions.”
Harris said the U.S. and Poland “will do everything together in partnership, in solidarity, to support what is necessary at this very moment in terms of the humanitarian and security needs of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”
Duda, speaking prior to Harris, vowed that the West has to “rescue Ukraine” and impose further economic sanctions on Russia.
American flags fly outside the New York Stock exchange in the Financial District in New York. (AP/Mary Altaffer)
Ukrainian officials are preparing to mount a pressure campaign aimed at the New York Stock Exchange, designed to isolate companies that do business in Russia, and therefore pay taxes to finance the Kremlin's government – taxes that fund the war against Ukraine.
"This is definitely not the time to pay any taxes to the Russian government," Maryan Zablotskyy, a member of the Ukrainian parliament's finance committee who is spearheading the effort, told FOX Business on Thursday. "These taxes finance guns, ammo and salaries of soldiers who kill Ukrainians. 52 children were killed by the invading forces so far."
"On behalf of the Ukrainian government we will be asking stock exchanges to delist any company which continues to pay taxes in rubles, and investment funds to drop these stocks," Zablotskyy added. "We have also asked US Congress on behalf of the Ukrainian Parliament's Finance Committee to consider banning the trade shares of any company that pay taxes in rubles."
"Our people will be staging protests outside the New York Stock Exchange demanding it delist companies that pay taxes to the Russian government," Zablotskyy told FOX Business.
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Vice President Kamala Harris is minutes away from holding a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
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A woman walks outside a maternity hospital that was damaged by shelling in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Wednesday. (AP/Evgeniy Maloletka)
British Armed Forces Minister James Heappey said Thursday that Russia's airstrike yesterday on a maternity and children's hospital in Mariupol is a "war crime".
Heappey said regardless whether it was “indiscriminate” fire into a built-up area or a deliberate targeting, “It is a war crime.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Polish President Andrzej Duda, right, greets US Vice President Kamala Harris as she arrives for meetings at Belwelder Palace, in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to hold a press conference this morning with Polish President Andrzej Sebastian Duda following their meeting in Warsaw where they discussed Ukraine.
She also met with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and with Ukrainian refugees while in the country.
FILE - Chelsea soccer club owner Roman Abramovich sits in his box before their English Premier League soccer match against Sunderland at Stamford Bridge stadium in London, Dec. 19, 2015.Unpreceded restrictions have been placed on Chelsea’s ability to operate by the British government after owner Roman Abramovich is targeted in sanctions. Abramovich is among seven wealthy Russians who had their assets frozen by the government. It freezes his ability to sell Chelsea which was announced last week after Russia invaded Ukraine. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)
Roman Abramovich, the Russian oligarch who owns the Chelsea Football Club of the English Premier League, was among those who were sanctioned by the U.K. government on Thursday.
Britain imposed a travel ban and froze the assets of the billionaire soccer team owner and six other Russian oligarchs. The government said he is banned from visiting the country and prohibited from transactions with U.K. individuals and businesses.
Britain said it "published a license" to allow Chelsea to continue playing in the English Premier League and perform other soccer-related activities amid the Abramovich sanctions.
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In this photo provided by Turkish Foreign Ministry, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, top left, chairs a tripartite meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, right, in Antalya, Turkey, Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Cem Ozdel/Turkish Foreign Ministry via AP)
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine's foreign minister, said that his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov wasn't in a position to commit to a humanitarian corridor out of the besieged city of Mariupol and no progress was made on a ceasefire during the meeting.
Kuleba was speaking in English to reporters in a press conference at Antalya, Turkey, amid a diplomacy forum. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was also in the meeting with Lavrov.
Kuleba said he and Lavrov agreed to continue efforts to seek a "humanitarian solution" and said he would be willing to meet again.
He added that foreign ministers have a "mandate" to discuss "peace and security."
"I'm ready to continue this engagement to end the war in Ukraine, stopping the suffering of Ukrainian civilians and stopping the Russian occupying force," he added.
Lavrov after the meeting continued to deny the Russians had invaded the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned a Russian attack on a maternity and children's hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday as "proof of genocide."
"An aerial bomb on a maternity hospital is the conclusive evidence that what is happening is a genocide of Ukrainians," he said in his nightly video address.
The airstrike on the hospital left three people dead, including a child, and more than a dozen injured.
"There are few things more depraved than targeting the vulnerable and defenceless," U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted. He said the country is "exploring more support for Ukraine to defend against airstrikes and we will hold Putin to account for his terrible crimes."
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba Wednesday about additional security and humanitarian assistance the U.S. could provide Ukraine in the face of Russia's "unconscionable attacks harming population centers," a State Department spokesperson said.
Ukrainian emergency employees and volunteers carry an injured pregnant woman from the damaged by shelling maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 9, 2022. A Russian attack has severely damaged a maternity hospital in the besieged port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian officials say. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Russian bombing of a Ukrainian maternity and children's hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol on Wednesday has left three people dead, including a child, according to officials Thursday.
More than a dozen others were wounded in the attack.
The attack wounded women waiting to give birth and doctors and buried children in the rubble. Bombs also fell on two hospitals in another city west of the capital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
In this photo provided by Turkish Foreign Ministry, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, left, is welcomed by his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu ahead of their tripartite meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in Antalya, Turkey, Thursday, March 10, 2022. (Cem Ozdel/Turkish Foreign Ministry via AP)
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is welcomed by his Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu Thursday morning in Antalya, Turkey, on the Mediterranean.
The two are expected to join their Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov for negotiations concerning the invasion of Ukraine at the seaside resort diplomacy forum.
Russia and Ukraine's foreign ministers Sergey Lavrov and Dmytro Kuleba will meet in Turkey Thursday for negotiations during a diplomacy forum in the country.
It will be the first high-level meeting between Moscow and Kyiv since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he will also be in the meeting in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
“Our main goal is to bring the three leaders together," Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper quoted Cavusoglu as saying, in reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia's Foreign Ministry tweeted a photo Thursday morning of Lavrov meeting with Cavusoglu.
Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, tweeted Thursday morning that he was headed to Turkey "to discuss the urgent issue of ensuring the safety and security of #Ukraine’s nuclear facilities" during a diplomacy forum near Antalya, Turkey.
Russia has attacked nuclear power plants in Ukraine and during the invasion and the country reported power cuts to the critical cooling system at the Chernobyl on Wednesday.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris disembarks from Air Force Two upon arrival at Warsaw Chopin Airport in Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, March 9, 2022, as she travels on a 3-day trip to Poland and Romania for meetings about the war in Ukraine. (Saul Loeb/Pool via AP)
Vice President Kamala Harris arrived in Warsaw Wednesday night for a three-day trip to Poland and Romania where she'll attend meetings on the war in Ukraine.
The Russian troops northwest of Kyiv have made "little progress" in a week and are suffering "continued losses" due to Ukraine's resistance, according to a Thursday morning update from the U.K's Defense Ministry.
The update said Russians have decreased air activity in the last few days, "likely due to the unexpected effectiveness and endurance of Ukrainian Air Defense Forces."
Russia has also deployed conscript troops despite publicly saying he wouldn't this week. "As casualties mount, President Putin will be forced to draw from across the Russian Armed Forces and other sources to replace his losses," the update said.
Ukraine's Armed Forces posted a video on Twitter Thursday morning local time that appeared to show a Russian military vehicle on fire.
"We start the morning with good news!" the post said, according to a translation. "Results of work of 72 brigades and OPSP 'Azov' in Brovarsky area. We continue to work!"
Major General Borys Kremenetskyi, Defense Attache with the Embassy of Ukraine, listens to Ukraine's Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova as she speaks during a news conference at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, on Feb. 24, 2022. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given the smaller nation’s embassy in Washington an unexpected role: recruitment center for Americans who want to join the fight. Diplomats working out of the embassy, in a townhouse in the Georgetown section of the city, are fielding thousands of offers from volunteers seeking to fight for Ukraine. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Among the thousands of offers from non-Ukrainians to help the country fight the Russian military are U.S. citizens.
“They really feel that this war is unfair, unprovoked,” said Ukraine’s military attaché, Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetskyi who works out of Washington, D.C.'s Ukrainian embassy. “They feel that they have to go and help.”
Since the Feb. 24 invasion, the embassy in Washington has heard from at least 6,000 people inquiring about volunteering for service, the “vast majority” of them American citizens, said Kremenetskyi, who oversees the screening of potential U.S. recruits.
The U.S. strongly discourages Americans from going to Ukraine to fight, saying it raises national security and legal issues but Kremenetskyi called volunteers "people of goodwill who are coming to assist Ukraine to fight for freedom.”
He said about half of the volunteers were immediately rejected because of their age, inexperience, criminal record and others factors, but around 100 Americans have been accepted and must make their way to Poland where they'll cross into Ukraine and sign a contract with the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine. They wont be paid.
The accepted American volunteers include Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans and helicopter pilots.
Around 20,000 non-Ukrainians have joined the fight.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former U.S. intel officer Rebekah Koffler provides insight on the Wagner Group on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'
The House of Representatives voted 361-69 to approve a $1.5. trillion spending bill that funds the government through Sept. 30 and includes $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine amid the war with Russia.
The defense portion passed by a vote of 361-69, and the domestic portion passed by a vote of 260-171 with one present vote.
The House voted after months of stalling and debate as Congress faced a Friday deadline to approve government funding or risk a shutdown.
Click here to read more on Fox News.
Sen. Lindsey Graham lashed out at the Biden administration for seemingly slowing the transfer of Polish fighter jets to Ukraine, saying he was "dumbfounded" by the administration's opposition to the plan.
"I’m beyond dumbfounded the Biden Administration is opposing the transfer of Polish MiGs to Ukrainian pilots so they can defend their homeland," the South Carolina Republican said on Twitter.
Graham has been a vocal advocate for Ukraine throughout the war, going so far as to call on Russian citizens to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
Now Graham is calling on the White House to allow the transfer of MiG fighter jets to Ukraine, saying arguing the U.S. cannot allow "Putin run NATO or freeze our ability to respond appropriately."
"The Biden Administration apparently supported Poland, a NATO member, transferring the jets, but all of a sudden it is untenable when America is involved in the transfer," Graham said.
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