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Days after traveling into the heart of a war-torn Ukraine, Brad Paisley isn't sure how to describe what he saw.

Earlier this month, Paisley rode the rain-soaked roads of capital city Kyiv in an armored car. He watched as dog-walking citizens trekked between street blocks. Children in raincoats tossed bookbags across shoulders as they hopped off school buses to return to parents.

As Paisley recalled these images, one word came to mind: Emotional.

"... A reoccurring theme everywhere I went was they [aren't] willing to leave the devastation, because they want to live," said Paisley, a three-time Grammy Award-winning country artist. "They are fixing things as fast as [Russia] blows them up."

He continued, "I'm tellin' ya, that's a very emotional thing, to see that kind of fierce normalcy in the middle of what is a tragic situation. It's defiant life. They are gonna breathe free air at all costs."

Paisley visited Ukraine for twelve hours on April 12, weeks after releasing "Same Here," a country single about what unites humanity in a world often defined by division. Paisley enlisted Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a spoken-word feature on the song; proceeds from the track benefit United24, a non-profit campaign to help rebuild homes in Ukraine. "Same Here" debuted on Feb. 24, the one-year anniversary of Russia invading the country.

On behalf of United24, Paisley traveled to Ukraine with a delegation of bipartisan U.S. Senators: Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mark Kelly (D-Arizona). While visiting St. Michael's Square in Kyiv where the country displays destroyed Russian military equipment Paisley performed "Same Here" and beloved Ukrainian folk song "Chervona Ruta" at a press conference alongside the U.S. delegation.

"[It] was my pleasure to travel with West Virginian and United24 ambassador Brad Paisley and witness his performance that truly lifted the spirits of everyone present," Manchin said in a press statement. "The level of patriotism, professionalism and sheer endurance of the Ukrainian people is inspiring. After this visit, I am even more convinced that defeating Vladimir Putin and ending his ruthless war against the Ukrainian people must remain our top priority."

As with most stories in Nashville, Paisley's trip to Ukraine started with a recording session. Paisley co-wrote "Same Here" last year with hopes of finding a Ukrainian singer to guest on the single. After a few calls, he instead pitched another idea: What if Zelenskyy shared a few words on the song? Zelenskyy's leadership team bought into the idea and after a handful of rescheduled meetings the two connected via Zoom.

On "Same Here," listeners hear a bite of the conversation.

"We speak different languages in our life," Zelenskyy said on the recording. "Yes, but I think we appreciate the same things: Children, freedom, our flag, our soldiers, our people. The biggest treasure we have. And friends. And we're proud of our army who defends our freedom and will defend our lives."

Before the 45-minute meeting ended, Zelenskyy invited Paisley to Ukraine. He needed to see the rebuilding efforts "Same Here" would help fund.

Paisley took the invitation to heart, and weeks later traveled overnight via train from the Polish border to shake hands with the international leader. As he stood on newly repaved street corners leveled by missiles last year, Paisley said he marveled at how quickly Ukrainians rebuilt war-struck buildings and roads.

"One of the things in the middle of the call was, he basically said, 'You need to come over and see our people. To meet these people in this country,'" Paisley said. He added, "He's right. These people are unlike anyone I've ever seen. I don't know where their grit comes from."

During his visit, Paisley exchanged hugs with officials who helped organize the "Same Here" collaboration before shaking hands with Zelenskyy and singing "Chervona Ruta," a communal song about blooming happiness he linked to "Country Roads," the time-tested ode to Paisley's home state, West Virginia.

"I was having a little bit of doubt about whether I should try to sing that," Paisley said. "Is it going to be offensive? Am I going to butcher this language? I probably did. But they certainly were appreciative of the attempt.

And after more than a year of war, he would understand if a bitter, tired congregation greeted Paisley and company. Instead, he met people focused and optimistic about the future of their country.

"The question I asked is how similar are we? And how much do we share, ad far as people go? The answer is limitless," Paisley said. "They want exactly what we have every day, which is the ability to chose your faith. Freedom and democracy and the stability that comes with that."

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Brad Paisley went to Ukraine. Here's what he saw - Tennessean

The program will be rolled out by UNESCO and UNICEF in Ukraine in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science and will provide children and teachers with equipment and tools for distance learning, psychosocial support, teacher training and education sector planning.

Through the GPE Multiplier, the Global Partnership for Education has matched a total of over $25 million in cash and in-kind support from Microsoft, Google and UNESCO, totaling more than $51 million in education assistance for Ukraine. The GPE Multiplier is an innovative financing instrument designed to leverage new sources of funding for education programs aligned to national priorities.

In addition to cash donations from both private sector partners and UNESCO, Microsofts support includes no-cost access to its software for students and teachers for on- and offline use and teacher training on software programs. Googles contribution Includes a donation of 50,000 Chromebooks. This is the first time that private sector partners have provided the necessary co-financing for a country to unlock funding from GPEs multiplier through a combination of cash and in-kind donations.

These contributions will help advance Ukraines existing efforts to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning and digitalize its education system, bridging emergency response and longer-term assistance to help the sector to better withstand the impact of the conflict.

The program implemented by UNESCO will include teacher professional development, mental health and psychosocial support, education planning and management, as well as the procurement and distribution of devices to conflict-affected primary and secondary school-aged learners, including children who have been internally displaced. 6,800 children and more than 60,000 education actors, such as government officials, principals, school psychologists, teachers, parents, and caregivers, will benefit from this program.

The program implemented by UNICEF, will focus on delivering devices and connectivity, expanding digital learning centers, providing catch-up education and access to education materials and will benefit an estimated 350,000 children in southern and eastern Ukraine where the fighting has been the most Intense.

Finland is the coordinating agent for GPE across Ukraine.

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Education in Ukraine: over $51 million in grants and in-kind support ... - UNESCO

The leak of classified documents on the gaming and chat platform Discord continues to be a treasure trove of information about Americas proxy war with Russia in Ukraine.

Earlier revelations from the Discord leak suggested Ukraine is a cornered animal. The latest shows it might lash out like one. The Washington Post reported Monday that documents in the leak claimed that the United States had to force Ukraine to back down from a direct attack on Moscow. Time and time again, the United States has had to rein in or express serious concern internally about Ukraines plans to fight Russia, not just in Ukraine or even within Russias borders, but in the Middle East and North Africa as well.

A classified report from the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) claimed that Maj. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov, who heads the Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR) for Ukraines defense ministry, instructed one of his officers on February 13 to get ready for mass strikes on 24 February. Ukraine was to strike with everything the HUR had. The NSA report also said Ukrainian officials joked about using TNT to strike Novorossiysk, a Black Sea port city east of the Crimean Peninsula. The Post asserted such an operation would be largely symbolic, but would nevertheless demonstrate Ukraines ability to hit deep inside enemy territory.

Budanov has a reputation for being a loose cannon. Previously, he claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin was terminally ill and employed body doubles for public appearances. He is apparently convinced that Ukraine will overwhelm and repel the Russian invasion, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, sometime this summer. Which is why it appears the U.S. intelligence apparatus has taken up monitoring Budanovs moves and communications. And Budanov appears to know it. The Post added that, when it has interviewed Budanov on occasion since the outbreak of the war, reporters have heard white noise or music in the background of the major generals office.

This time, however, it appears the United States prevented the loose cannon from going off. On February 22, the CIA internally circulated a classified report that the HUR had agreed, at Washingtons request, to postpone strikes on Moscow. Nevertheless, the CIA also said there is no indication that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) had agreed to postpone its own plans to attack Moscow around the same date.

The SBU also apparently held off any plans it may have had for striking deep into Russian territory on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion. The United Statess efforts to discourage Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory only lasted so long, however. About a week after the anniversary of the Russian invasion, the Kremlin accused Ukrainian drones of striking infrastructure relatively close to Moscow.

Such drone attacks are par for the course in Ukraines recent military operations inside Russian territory. Last October, Russia accused Ukraine of drone strikes against its Black Sea fleet in Crimea. Though the authenticity has not been confirmed, video footage shows a drone heading towards a ship as what appears to be gunfire hits the water around the Russian vessel. The Kremlin claimed a minesweeper was damaged in the attack. Then in December, Ukrainian drones reportedly struck Engels-2, a military air-base about 400 miles inside Russian territory. Drones also struck two other military airfields and an oil facility in the Kursk province.

Ukraine appears to now be reaching further into Russian territory and is less ambiguous about its involvement in these attacks. Earlier on in the conflict, Ukraine often denied playing a role in attacks on Russian installations and infrastructure within its borders, such as the car-bombing incident in August 2022 that killed Daria Dugina, the daughter of Aleksandr Dugin, a Russian nationalist and staunch supporter of Russias invasion. Despite repeated Ukrainian denials, the U.S. intelligence community believes Ukraine was behind the attack.

In an interview with the Post in January, however, Budanov simultaneously denied Ukraines involvement in many of these attacks and claimed that they would continue. Such attacks shattered their illusions of safety, Budanov reportedly claimed. There are people who plant explosives. There are drones. Until the territorial integrity of Ukraine is restored, there will be problems inside Russia.

Other revelations from the Discord-leaked documents: Ukraine wants to expand the scope of the conflict beyond that of continental Europe and take the Russians to task in the Middle East and North Africa. The NSA report claimed that Budanovs HUR planned to attack the Wagner Groupa Russian military contractor with a reputation for brutality whose members have assisted in the Ukraine offensivein the African country of Mali. The Wagner Groups services are retained by the government of Mali for security and training their own military forces.

The NSA document said, It is unknown what stage the operations [in Mali] were currently in and whether the HUR has received approval to execute its plans, according to the Post.

At the same time, the HUR was developing plans to strike Russian forces in Syria by partnering with the Kurds. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly put the kibosh on the special operations offensive in the Middle East, but at least one of the documents reviewed by the Post claimed that efforts to attack Russian assets in Syria that avoid Ukrainian culpability may still be on the table for the Ukrainian government.

Are these not plans for a world war? Would the United States not be responsible if the Ukrainian government, which both militarily and financially would be defunct without nearly $100 billion in U.S. aid, decided to go forward with such plans?

The Biden administration would deny any culpability in starting World War III, of course. It would point to the fact that the U.S. prohibits using the military aid it gives Ukraine to strike Russia. Thus, the United States retains much say over Ukraines battle plans and has successfully thwarted grand Ukrainian plans to strike Moscow and several other core Russian targets on separate occasions.

Ukrainian officials have admitted this in private, too. Oftentimes, if Ukraine wants to use a rocket system provided by the United States to strike a target, U.S. military personnel in Europe either have to confirm the coordinates or provide the coordinates themselves.

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The Biden administration and the foreign policy blob that supports the United States involvement in Ukraine might think this makes our involvement sound all the better. It doesnt. It reveals who is really waging this war against Russia. Ukraine, which has been a money-laundering operation for the well-connected in the West for the last decade (see Hunter Biden), continues to be just that. Ukraine is the American liberal empires proxy in the truest sense.

The weapons systems, ammunition, and military equipment the United States provides Ukraine maintains a certain level of fungibilityand aid dollars more so than the physical equipment. Providing military aid, even with the current strings attached, expands Ukraines pool of resources, meaning they can devote what is theirs to operations and theaters that suit their fancy.

Restraining Ukraine is becoming increasingly difficult, and funding Ukraines military efforts increasingly risky. That much is clear from Americas own assessment of Ukraines war plans revealed in the Discord leak. Heads should roll at the Pentagon, the State Department, and the White House for blindly walking into a conflict that Ukraine wants to go global.

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Ukraine Plans for World War III - The American Conservative

Unanimity is a concept often put to the test across the European Union.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, divisions over issues such as military aid and Ukraines EU candidacy have challenged an overall united front.

Last week, the EUs approach towards dealing with one of Russias closest allies China was also thrown into question after French President Emmanuel Macrons remarks that Europe should not be followers of Washington or Beijing regarding Taiwan.

And now, Ukrainian grain threatens to divide the union.

Amid a recent surge in cheap grains and farm products from Ukraine, Poland and Hungary announced temporary bans on imports on Saturday, to protect their own farmers interests. Slovakia joined them on Monday, and Bulgaria on Wednesday.

Romania, another country that has witnessed farmer protests over the issue, has so far stopped short of a ban.

While Ukraine has acknowledged the concerns of European farmers, authorities in Kyiv say Ukrainians have it harder.

But there are some signs of the crisis easing.

Top officials at the EU have condemned the measures but promised to solve the problem with money proposing millions of extra euros to support farmers in the continent.

And after talks with his Polish counterparts in Warsaw, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi confirmed on Wednesday that the transit of Ukrainian grain and food products will resume through Poland.

Ukraine is also scheduled to hold talks with the other EU nations that have imposed bans later this week.

The blockade ended in August last year, with a deal signed by Russia and Ukraine that exports resume.

But Ukraines Solskyi has raised concerns about the status of this agreement with Moscow which is currently due to expire on May 18.

He said it was impossible to predict how many vessels Moscow would allow through.

Meanwhile, Russia has accused Ukraine of hindering ship inspection processes in Turkey.

According to the EU, as of March 2023, more than 23 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs have been exported via the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

To ensure there are no further obstacles in global exports, the EU unanimously agreed to lift all duties on Ukrainian grains and introduced solidarity lanes for the transit of the grains last year.

More than a year into the war, this move by the bloc has begun angering farmers across Eastern and Central Europe.

Ukrainian cereals should arrive in countries which need them urgently. But at the same time, this makes it hard for countries like Romania, which is a net exporter for cereals with more than half of our internal production being exported, Alina Cretu, executive director at the Romanian Forum of Professional Farmers and Processors, told Al Jazeera.

If some local traders buy these cereals from Ukraine, instead of buying from local farmers, which is already happening now, our farmers will face bankruptcy because we cant compete with the price of Ukrainian cereals, she said.

We feel that the EU is not clear how the situation is for farmers like us. Banning imports of Ukrainian grain into our markets for a determined period and ensuring strict transition of it through Romania will help our farmers meander through this complex period, said Cretu, who lives on a farm with her husband in southeastern Romania, where they cultivate wheat, barley, maize and sunflowers.

Similar sentiments have been expressed by farmers unions in Poland and other central and Eastern European countries.

The European Commission has rejected the import bans and said in a statement that the EUs trade policy is of exclusive competence and, therefore, unilateral actions are not acceptable.

Mats Cuvelier, a Brussels-based lawyer focusing on EU and international trade, told Al Jazeera that this does not prevent EU member states from stopping agricultural products from entering the EU if they determine that the products do not meet specific issues like the EUs sanitary standards.

Slovakia, for instance, appears to have justified its ban on the import of Ukrainian grain on the grounds that it detected pesticides not permitted in the EU, he said.

Slovakias Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said the ban is a measure for the protection of the Slovak agro-food sector and mainly the health of consumers, but added that the transit of Ukrainian grains and other products through Slovakia could continue.

EU officials will discuss the bans this week.

Cuvelier added that while the European Commission could start infringement proceedings against an EU member state if it does not comply with the blocs trade laws, he expects the Commission to opt for a less confrontational solution like offering additional support to affected farmers.

In March, European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski allocated 29.5 million euros ($32m) to Poland, 16.75 million euros ($18m) to Bulgaria and 10.05 million euros ($11m) to Romania, seeking to support farmers.

On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, the Commissions leader, suggested an extra 100 million-euro ($110m) support fund for farmers may help.

But Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Brussels, told Al Jazeera that money will not solve underlying issues because for countries like Poland and Hungary, the bloc has to first deal with its ongoing political beef.

Moreover amid food inflation, some EU countries might also be secretly happy with cheap Ukrainian grains. So negotiations on these import bans, which are illegal under EU law, are going to be difficult, he said.

The EU has been withholding funds worth 138 billion euros ($151bn) from Poland and Hungary in an effort to make the countries respect the rule of law.

Besides these budgetary tensions with the EU, the Polish government is also under pressure heading into elections and they need the support from rural voter groups, otherwise the government will lose the elections, Kirkegaard said.

In the case of Hungary, it is also more opportunistic from Prime Minister Viktor Orban who often creates pressure within the bloc when unanimous decisions have to be made. For Slovakia, it is also election season, so the politics is the same. But if Poland drops the ban, the other EU nations will follow suit as well, he added.

We need more financial support and investments in improving logistic facilities, like transportation, infrastructure, port modernisation and increasing stockage capacities, she said.

Kirkegaard also said the EU should zoom out and focus on the bigger picture.

While there is support for Ukraine throughout the bloc, it is being tempered by domestic concerns, which will continue. So while discussions to address each member states issues are tricky, they are important to achieve EU unanimity, he said.

If not, Russia will benefit from these divisions and could use it to its benefit.

Priyanka Shankar contributed to this report.

The rest is here:
Why is Ukrainian grain suddenly so divisive in Europe? - Al Jazeera English

18 April 2023

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is on a trip to Brazil

The White House has sharply criticised Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for accusing the United States of "encouraging" the war in Ukraine.

Lula said after a visit to China at the weekend that the US needed to start talking about peace in Ukraine.

Visiting Brazil, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Lula and thanked Brazil for its efforts.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby accused Lula of "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda".

Lula, who has pitched himself as a broker for peace talks to end the conflict, said over the weekend that "the United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace".

Mr Lavrov, who visited Brasilia on Monday, said that Moscow was "grateful to our Brazilian friends for their clear understanding of the genesis of the situation".

"We are grateful for their desire to contribute to finding ways to settle this situation," he said.

Mr Kirby said Lula's comments were "simply misguided" and missed the mark by "suggesting the United States and Europe are somehow not interested in peace, or that we share responsibility for the war".

In response, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said of Mr Kirby: "I don't know how or why he reached that conclusion but I do not agree at all."

Brazil has not joined Western countries in imposing sanctions on Russia and has refused requests to supply ammunition to Ukraine.

While Brazil is calling for peace talks, Ukraine and its allies say an immediate ceasefire would allow Russia to keep hold of territory it illegally obtained through force.

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Ukraine war: US accuses Lula of parroting propaganda - BBC