Biden set to give major speech in Poland; Ukraine’s Zelenskyy asks Middle East to increase energy output

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken at the Doha Forum conference’s opening ceremony.

Speaking via video link, he said: “I ask you to increase output of energy so everyone in Russia understands that no one can use energy as blackmail,” according to a translation.

It comes as countries around the world seek to reduce their energy dependence on Russia — a leading producer and global exporter of oil and gas.

On Friday, the U.S. said it will look to provide at least 15 billion cubic meters more of liquified natural gas to Europe this year, with the volumes expected to increase going forward.

U.S. President Joe Biden described the agreement as a “groundbreaking” new initiative designed to “increase energy security, economic security and national security.”

The U.K. Ministry of Defence said Russia seems likely to focus its artillery on urban areas.

“Russian forces are proving reluctant to engage in large scale urban infantry operations, rather preferring to rely on the indiscriminate use of air and artillery bombardments in an attempt to demoralise defending forces,” the ministry said in its daily intelligence update.

It said, however, this strategy will likely come “at the cost of further civilian casualties” as Moscow looks to “limit its own already considerable losses.”

The ministry said Russia’s onslaught continues in a number of Ukrainian cities, including Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mariupol.

— Christine Wang

Russian forces appear to be prioritizing efforts in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, a U.S. Department of Defense official said Friday.

“That’s where still there remains a lot of heavy fighting and we think they are trying to not only secure some sort of more substantial gains there as a potential negotiating tactic at the table, but also to cut off Ukrainian forces in the eastern part of the country,” the official said.

While airstrikes on Kyiv continue, the Pentagon official said Russian forces currently do not appear to be pursuing a ground offensive in Ukraine’s capital city.

The official also said the Pentagon has seen Russian troop movements in Georgia, which they said could indicate reinforcements may be sent into Ukraine.

Reports of military movements in Ukraine continue to be difficult to confirm as the situation across the country remains fluid and changes rapidly.

The official also confirmed Ukrainian forces destroyed a Russian ship in Berdyansk earlier in the week, but declined to say what weapons were used, in order to protect operational security. The official also said the department does not know how many Russians were onboard when the ship was hit or how many casualties there were.

— Christine Wang

U.S. President Joe Biden stopped near Rzeszow, Poland to thank the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division ahead of his meeting with the country’s President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw.

“We’re in the midst of a fight between democracy and oligarchs,” Biden said.

“What’s at stake here is not just what we’re doing in Ukraine to try to help the Ukrainian people and try to keep the massacre from continuing,” Biden said. “Beyond that is what are your kids and grandkids going to look like in terms of their freedom.”

“What you’re engaging in is much bigger than whether or not you can alleviate the pain and suffering of the people of Ukraine. We’re in a new phase, we’re at an inflection point,” he said. Biden added that the world will not be the same in 10 or 15 years and the question is: “Who’s going to prevail,” democracy or autocracy.

“You are the finest fighting force in the history of the world,” Biden said.

In addressing the troops, Biden invoked his son Beau Biden, a lawyer and officer in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps who served in Iraq and Kosovo.

“There are hundreds of thousands of people like my son, like all of you. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Biden said.

— Dawn Kopecki, Getty Images/Reuters