Russia-Ukraine war live: Biden attacks Putin in NATO speech after “hellish attack” on Kyiv children’s hospital

The sky was crystal clear when Oksana Femeniuk took her daughter to Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital for routine dialysis.

At around 10 a.m. the air raid sirens sounded. 16-year-old Solomiia had to undergo a treatment during which she had to sit still for up to five hours and was not allowed to be disturbed. Her mother had to flee to the hospital basement without her.

A Russian Kh-101 cruise missile was hurtling toward them at 700-800 kilometers per hour, according to Ukrainian intelligence, the United Nations and open-source investigators. Through painstaking trial and error, Russia modified the weapon last year so that it could overcome Ukrainian air defense systems by flying at low altitude and close to terrain, military analysts say.

Seventy-five years after 12 countries came together in Washington to sign a historic mutual defense pact following World War II, the president praised the alliance’s progress at NATO’s annual summit before leaders of the treaty’s 32 signatories.

Addressing an audience of NATO leaders, including newly elected British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Biden said the North Atlantic Treaty, which the alliance created 75 years ago, is stronger and more important than ever and pledged to continue supporting Ukraine’s defense needs.

“We know Putin will not stop at Ukraine, but make no mistake, Ukraine can and will stop Putin,” he said. The US and its partner countries plan to deliver five “strategic air defense systems” and “dozens” of “tactical air defense systems” to Ukraine in the coming months, Biden added.

Joe Biden has announced another extensive air defense package for Ukraine and said the war-torn country’s allies would support the Ukrainian armed forces for as long as necessary.

“The United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Italy will deliver to Ukraine … five additional strategic air defense systems,” Biden said.

“In the coming months, the United States and our partners intend to deliver dozens more tactical air defense systems to Ukraine. The United States will ensure that Ukraine remains at the forefront of exporting critical air defense interceptors,” the US President said at the start of the NATO summit in Washington.

Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance had signed the Stinger Treaty.

“Without a strong defense industry, there is no way to ensure a strong defense,” Stoltenberg said when announcing the treaty.

The new prime minister, a diehard Arsenal fan, will not be able to watch one of his favourite players Bukayo Saka and his team-mates face the Dutch on Wednesday for the right to play in the final against Spain on Sunday.

Worse still, for security reasons, Sir Keir’s phone will be taken away when he takes part in talks on Ukraine with other NATO leaders at the NATO summit in Washington DC.

This means that he will not be able to calmly check the score in the middle of talks on how to deal with Vladimir Putin.

Speaking to journalists on his flight to the summit in the USA, the new Prime Minister stressed that the defence and security of Britain and its allies was his top priority.

However, he again declined to give a timetable for when his “ironclad commitment” to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent would come into effect.

His comments came after it became clear that he had not been involved in a discussion organized by the US government and other allies about air support for Ukraine.

But Sir Keir made it clear at the press conference that he was convinced that the summit in the coming days would “seal” financial support for Ukraine’s war effort.

Mr Modi raised the issue during a private dinner hosted by Mr Putin on Monday, news agency PTI reported, citing unnamed sources. The Indian leader is in Moscow on a two-day visit.

Russia was expected to officially announce the decision to discharge all Indians from the army after official talks on Tuesday.

There is a “high probability” that Kyiv’s largest children’s hospital was directly hit by a Russian missile in a series of air strikes on Ukrainian cities, a UN human rights mission said.

“Analysis of the video footage and an on-site assessment indicate with a high degree of probability that the children’s hospital suffered a direct hit and was not damaged by an intercepted weapons system,” said the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine.

Ukrainian intelligence said it had clear evidence that the medical facility had been hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile during the deadliest series of attacks in months, and released images of alleged fragments of the weapon’s engine.