{"id":1941,"date":"2022-03-25T19:57:28","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T19:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/biden-says-russia-should-be-booted-from-g-20-russias-economy-has-shrunk-in-half-since-invading-ukraine-march-24-recap-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2022-03-25T19:57:28","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T19:57:28","slug":"biden-says-russia-should-be-booted-from-g-20-russias-economy-has-shrunk-in-half-since-invading-ukraine-march-24-recap-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/25\/biden-says-russia-should-be-booted-from-g-20-russias-economy-has-shrunk-in-half-since-invading-ukraine-march-24-recap-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden says Russia should be booted from G-20; Russia's economy has shrunk in half since invading Ukraine: March 24 recap – USA TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Thursday, March\u00a024. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Tuesday, March 25, as Russia’s invasion continues.<\/em>
President Joe Biden said Russia should be kicked out of the Group of 20 nations<\/a> in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, a major step that would further isolate the Kremlin and restrict Russia’s say in the global economy.
Russia\u2019s membership in the group, which represents the world\u2019s major economies, was discussed during an emergency meeting\u00a0with key U.S. allies, Biden told reporters Thursday during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.\u00a0
He noted that the decision on whether to boot Russia from the group is up to other G-20 members.\u00a0If the other members decline to revoke Russia\u2019s membership, Ukraine should be permitted to attend G-20 meetings, Biden said.
The G-20<\/a> includes not only Western democracies but also tyrannical and authoritarian countries such as\u00a0China and Saudi Arabia. The group works to address major issues impacting the global economy.\u00a0
The U.S. and other allies expelled Russia in 2014 from a smaller group that represents industrialized nations after Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea. That alliance, known at the time as the Group of Eight, is now called the Group of Seven, or G-7.
The president’s remarks came\u00a0as\u00a0the U.S. reinforced a united stand with allies in supporting Ukraine one month into Russia\u2019s invasion, with added sanctions against the Kremlin aimed at further crippling the country’s economy. The sanctions against more than 400 Russian officials and entities came as\u00a0Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economy has shrunk to\u00a0half the size it was\u00a0before the invasion, according to the White House.\u00a0
A senior administration official told reporters that independent assessments indicate Russia\u2019s last 15 years of economic gains will evaporate this year and inflation will spike to 15%.\u00a0
Russia, which had the world\u2019s 11th largest economy before the invasion, will fall out of the top 20, according to the official.\u00a0At the same time, the official said, sanctions are cutting off all sources of potential growth, including blocking Russia from purchasing cutting-edge technology.
Biden also announced Thursday he\u00a0hopes to meet with Ukrainian refugees while in Europe,\u00a0giving away a part of his schedule that the White House had not announced.
Biden said getting a first-hand look at the effects of the war on Ukrainians will reinforce his commitment to the U.S. playing a major role in helping both those inside and outside Ukraine.
\u201cI plan on attempting to see those folks as well as, I hope, I’m going to be able to see \u00a0— guess I’m not supposed to say where I’m going, am I?\u201d Biden said. \u201cBut anyway, I hope I get to see a lot of people.\u201d
LATEST MOVEMENTS:<\/strong>Mapping and tracking Russia’s invasion of Ukraine<\/a>
NEWS COMES TO YOU:<\/strong>The latest updates on the situation in Ukraine. Sign up here.<\/a>
Latest developments:<\/strong><\/em>
\u25baUkrainian deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk says Ukraine and Russia exchanged a total of 50 military and civilian prisoners Thursday.
\u25baBulgaria is recalling its ambassador to Moscow for consultations in response to “undiplomatic, sharp and rude\u201d statements made by Russian Ambassador Eleonora Mitrofanova. Mitrofanova said Monday that Bulgarians do not “support the rhetoric and actions of their government” regarding Russia\u2019s invasion.
\u25baHerman Gref, the head of Russia’s largest bank and a close Putin associate, was among those targeted by sanctions the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled\u00a0Thursday. As CEO of Sberbank, Gref, 58, also oversees a large number of companies owned by Sberbank in other industries, the department said.\u00a0
\u25baThe Russian stock market resumed limited trading Thursday under heavy restrictions almost one month after prices plunged and the market was shut down following Moscow\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.
Ukraine accused Moscow on Thursday of forcibly taking hundreds of thousands of civilians from shattered Ukrainian cities to Russia, where some may be used as \u201chostages\u201d to pressure Kyiv to give up.
Lyudmyla Denisova, Ukraine\u2019s ombudsperson, said 402,000 people, including 84,000 children, have been taken against their will.
The Kremlin gave nearly identical numbers for those who have been relocated, but said they wanted to go to Russia. Ukraine\u2019s rebel-controlled eastern regions are predominantly Russian-speaking, and many people there have supported close ties to Moscow.
Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said the roughly 400,000 people evacuated to Russia since the start of the military action were from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Moscow separatists have been fighting for control for nearly eight years.
Russian authorities said they are providing accommodations and dispensing payments to the evacuees.
Ukrainian officials said that the Russians are taking people\u2019s passports and moving them to \u201cfiltration camps\u201d in Ukraine\u2019s separatist-controlled east before sending them to various distant, economically depressed areas in Russia.
A majority of Americans are supportive of the harsh sanctions on Russia but believe Biden needs to be tougher on the Kremlin after its invasion of Ukraine, according to a\u00a0poll<\/a> commissioned by the\u00a0Associated Press and NORC released Thursday.\u00a0
The poll, which\u00a0surveyed 1,082 U.S. adults from Thursday to Monday,\u00a0found 56% of Americans believe Biden’s response to Russia hasn’t been tough enough, including a majority of 53% of Democrats. A very small percent, about 6%, said they thought Biden had been “too tough,” the poll shows.\u00a0
Across the board, Americans of both political parties were supportive of the harsh economic blows to Russia. The poll showed 68% were supportive of economic sanctions in general with 70% saying they supported the recent\u00a0banning oil imported from Russia, which in turn caused gas prices to rise.\u00a0
\u2013 Christal Hayes<\/em>
President Joe Biden said he is \u201chopeful\u201d that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not assist Russia in its war against Ukraine but declined to say whether he\u2019s seen any indications that China will intervene.
\u201cChina understands that its economic future is much more closely tied to the west than it is to Russia,\u201d Biden said. \u201cAnd so I’m hopeful that he does not get engaged.\u201d
Biden pointed to his virtual meeting last week with Xi in which the president said he \u201cmade it clear to him\u201d him that he understand the consequences and would be \u201cputting himself in significant jeopardy.\u201d
Biden said he \u201cmade no threats,\u201d to Xi but pointed out the number of American companies that have pulled out of Russia as a result of Putin\u2019s \u201cbarbaric behavior.\u201d
\u2013\u00a0Joey Garrison<\/em>
President Joe Biden said the United States and NATO allies would \u201crespond\u201d to Russia if they used chemical weapons.
\u201cWe would respond, we would respond if he uses it,\u201d Biden said during a press conference Thursday. \u201cThe nature of the responses depend on the nature of the use.\u201d
Biden would not expand on whether the United States has gathered specific intelligence on if Russian President Vladimir Putin is using chemical weapons.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said Russian military forces committed war crimes in Ukraine after hitting civilian targets.
When asked whether there could be a military response if Putin uses chemical weapons, Biden said that NATO would decide as a whole if they would cross that line.
\u2013 Rebecca Morin<\/em>
President Joe Biden vigorously defended his administration\u2019s use of sanctions on Russia, arguing the financial penalties were never meant to deter Putin from invading Ukraine but are designed to provide sustained pain.
\u201cSanctions never deter,\u201d Biden said when pressed why U.S. sanctions have not stopped Putin\u2019s course in Ukraine. \u201cYou keep talking about that.\u201d
Biden said it\u2019s the \u201cmaintenance of sanctions\u201d and \u201cincreasing the pain\u201d over the next year that will stop Russia.
\u201cWe have to demonstrate the purpose,\u201d Biden said. \u201cThe single most important thing is for us to stay unified and for the world to continue to focus on what a brut this guy is.\u201d
Biden noted that Putin was banking on\u00a0NATO being split when he invaded Ukraine.\u00a0Instead, \u201cNATO has never, never been more united than it\u2019s been today,\u201d Biden declared Thursday after an emergency meeting of the allies in Brussels.\u00a0
But Putin can take anything for another month, including the harsh sanctions, so the alliance must not crack, Biden added.
\u2013 Joey Garrison and Maureen Groppe\u00a0<\/em>
The U.S. will accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees and others fleeing\u00a0Russia\u2019s invasion<\/a>\u00a0and provide more than $1 billion in new humanitarian assistance,\u00a0the White House announced Thursday.
The funding will pay for food, shelter, clean water, medical supplies and other forms of assistance.
Although many\u00a0Ukrainian refugees prefer to remain in Europe where they will be closer to family and their homes, the Biden administration is working to expand and develop new programs with a focus on welcoming Ukrainians who have family members in the U.S.
Food shortages have been a major concern as both Russia and Ukraine are top producers of wheat. Biden\u00a0discussed with other countries Thursday during a meeting in Brussels how to alleviate the issue, with both Canada and the U.S.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0also top producers of the crop\u00a0\u2013\u00a0discussing how production can be increased.\u00a0
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be real,\u201d Biden said of food disruptions.
The nations also talked about the need to end trade restrictions on sending food abroad, Biden said.\u00a0
Biden noted the U.S. has provided $1 billion in assistance to Ukraine and, along with American allies, is\u00a0committed to identifying “additional equipment, including air defense systems, to help Ukraine.\u201d\u00a0The U.S. is consulting with allies on providing anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday.
At a news conference Thursday after meeting with key allies in Brussles, Biden said U.S. weapons are flowing into Ukraine to help the embattled country resist Russia\u2019s invasion.
Speaking to reporters, Biden said the U.S. has committed to provide over $2 billion in military equipment to Ukraine since he became president. Air systems and armor systems ammunitions are flowing into the country \u201cas I speak\u201d, he said.
Tens of thousands of ordinary people across Europe have joined a grassroots, pro-democratic mission to fight Russia on social media.\u00a0They call themselves \u201celves\u201d<\/a> because they hunt trolls spreading Russian propaganda and disinformation on Facebook and counter Kremlin conspiracy theories with credible information gathered from allies on the ground in embattled parts of Ukraine.
Their ranks have swelled since the start of the war one month ago as more office workers, doctors, scientists, teachers and IT professionals enlist to stem the flood of pro-Russian falsehoods and conspiracy theories in news feeds.
Ri\u010dardas Savukynas, a management consultant from Vilnius,\u00a0started the underground resistance movement in Lithuania in 2014 during the Ukrainian uprising on Kyiv\u2019s Maidan Square and Russia\u2019s annexation of the Crimea Peninsula.
\u201cThe idea is everybody can be an elf simply by fighting against propaganda, against lies,\u201d Savukynas said. Read more here<\/strong><\/a>.
\u2013 Jessica Guynn<\/em>
Weapons convoys\u00a0arriving in Ukraine almost every day thus far have not been targeted by Russia’s military, State Department spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. Kirby, speaking on Fox News, did not directly respond to a question about how the U.S. and NATO would respond if Russia struck a convoy\u00a0\u2013 accidentally or on purpose\u00a0\u2013 in Poland.\u00a0Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov\u00a0has warned that\u00a0convoys “pumping Ukraine with\u00a0weapons” will be considered legitimate targets.\u00a0
“We have not seen the Russians attempt to strike any of these convoys,” Kirby said. “We’re watching this very, very carefully, as you might expect.\u00a0But so far, we have not seen any attempt by the Russians to stall or to slow these convoys.
Kirby added that the Russian military has their “hands full” in places such as Kyiv, and Chernihiv, Kharkiv and in the south near Crimea.\u00a0\u00a0
In a video address to a NATO summit Thursday, Ukraine President VolodymyrZelenskyy\u00a0stressed the need for military assistance.\u00a0Zelenskyy urged NATO to provide Ukraine with \u201c1% of all your planes, 1% of all your tanks.\u201d
\u201cWhen we will have all this, it will give us, just like you, 100% security,” he said.
Zelenskyy called on people worldwide to gather in public\u00a0 to show support for his embattled country.
\u201cCome to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard,\u201d Zelenskyy said in English during an emotional video address late Wednesday that was recorded in the dark near the presidential offices in Kyiv. \u201cSay that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.\u201d
The U.S. is consulting with allies on providing anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, a senior administration official told reporters Thursday. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there could be technical challenges but that it is something that allies are \u201cstarting to work on.\u201d The Russians have several warships off the coast of Ukraine in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, according to the official. They include surface combatants that have shelled the city of Mariupol. They also have amphibious landing craft, supply ships and patrol boats.
Ukraine\u2019s navy reported Thursday that it had sunk the Russian ship Orsk in the Azov near the port city of Berdyansk. It released photos and video of fire and thick smoke coming from the port area. Russia did not immediately comment on the claim.
\u2013 Maureen Groppe and Tom Vanden Brook<\/em>
The 2023 budget request the White House will send to Congress on Monday must reflect that \u201cthe world is dangerous and getting smaller,\u201d Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Thursday.
\u201cWe have to meet the military requirements that come from being a superpower facing growing threats to our global interests,\u201d McConnell said on the Senate floor as he addressed President Joe Biden\u2019s meetings with European allies.
McConnell said the U.S. needs to increase defense spending and expand inventories of critical weapons to meet the nation\u2019s own security ends and to be a reliable supplier of weapons and munitions to allies.\u00a0He said the war in Ukraine has highlighted shortcomings in both current stockpiles and in the industrial capacity to produce more quickly.
\u201cUkrainian forces can win this fight,\u201d he said, \u201cbut they need more weapons, more ammunition, more fuel. And they need it all as fast as possible.
Dissident Russian journalist Oksana Baulina was killed while filming in Kyiv,<\/a> making her at least the fourth journalist to die in the country during the war.\u00a0Baulina was working as a correspondent for The Insider when Russian troops shelled a shopping center in the Podil district,\u00a0a historic neighborhood in Kyiv,\u00a0the site said in a statement.\u00a0Another\u00a0civilian was killed and two more people were wounded and hospitalized.\u00a0\u00a0
Baulina had fled Russia but had continued to report on corruption inside the Russian government.\u00a0
“The Insider expresses its deepest condolences to Oksana’s family and friends,” the statement read.
\u2013\u00a0Asha C. Gilbert<\/em>
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked NATO allies Thursday for continued help in his fight against Russia\u2019s invasion but did not repeat his recurring request for a \u201cno-fly” zone,\u00a0according to the White House.\u00a0Zelenskyy addressed the NATO summit by video from Ukraine, speaking shortly after the emergency summit was opened by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, according to a senior administration official who described the closed-door gathering on condition of anonymity.
The official said Zelenskyy also did not ask for Ukraine to become a member of the alliance.\u00a0Russia is opposed to Ukraine joining NATO, one of the conditions Moscow set in the failed negotiations before troops invaded Ukraine.
Zelenskyy’s frequents requests for a “no-fly” zone\u00a0over his country have been dismissed by U.S. and NATO officials who say defending Ukraine skies would risk a wider escalation of the war.
NATO leaders agreed Thursday to strengthen its deterrence and defense forces in Europe for the longer-term while increasing support to Ukraine and imposing further costs on Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after the alliance\u2019s emergency meeting.
\u201cTransatlantic solidarity remains vital,\u201d Stoltenberg tweeted.
In a group statement released after the meeting, NATO leaders said they condemn Russia\u2019s invasion and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately stop the war and withdraw forces.\u00a0The leaders also called on Belarus to end its complicity in the war and for\u00a0China and other countries to stop supporting Russia\u2019s war effort in any way, and to “refrain from any action that helps Russia circumvent sanctions.\u201d NATO also will enhance cyber capabilities and defenses and \u201csubstantially increasing\u201d defense spending overall.
Russia has begun the process\u00a0to expel several American diplomats from the U.S. embassy in Moscow, the State Department said Wednesday.\u00a0
The department said it received a list of diplomats on who have been declared \u201cpersona non grata\u201d by the Russian foreign ministry. It didn\u2019t say how many diplomats were affected by the order, which generally results in the expulsion of those targeted within 72 hours.
The State Department called Wednesday\u2019s move \u201cRussia\u2019s latest unhelpful and unproductive step\u201d in relations between the countries. It urged Russia \u201cto end its unjustified expulsions of U.S. diplomats and staff.\u201d
\u2013\u00a0Charles Ventura<\/em>
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the United States has determined Russian forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine.
\u201cToday, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia’s forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine,\u201d Blinken said in a statement.
He said the assessment is based on \u201ca careful review of available information from public and intelligence sources.\u201d
Blinken said Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s invasion has unleashed \u201cunrelenting violence that has caused death and destruction across Ukraine.\u201d He cited reports of indiscriminate attacks, including those deliberately targeting civilians, among other atrocities.\u00a0
\u2013\u00a0Deirdre Shesgreen<\/em>
Contributing: Bart Jansen, USA TODAY; The Associated Press<\/em><\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This page recaps the news from Ukraine on Thursday, March\u00a024. Follow here for the latest updates and news from Tuesday, March 25, as Russia’s invasion continues.President Joe Biden said Russia should be kicked out of the Group of 20 nations in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine, a major step that would further isolate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}