TOP HEADLINES

• The European Union has a "special responsibility" towards Ukraine in the long term, the European Commission's President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, as she outlined investment plans for the country.

• Belarus, which has remained pro-Moscow throughout the conflict, said on Wednesday that its armed forces were beginning 10 days of annual "mobilization exercises".

• The U.S. will provide more than $1.3 billion in additional aid to Ukraine to help the country recover and rebuild its energy grid, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. READ MORE BELOW

• British PM Rishi Sunak announced a new framework for war risk insurance on Wednesday, aimed at helping businesses invest in Ukraine.

• Ukrainian forces are reinforcing positions they have reached in areas of the southern front line after having "partial success" fighting Russian forces, a military spokesperson said on Wednesday.

• Russia's Defense Ministry said it had thwarted a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow region, saying that all three drones had been shot down.

• The Russian Navy will receive two new nuclear submarines by the end of this year, the TASS state news agency reported on Wednesday.

• The Kremlin on Wednesday restated its position that there are "no grounds" to extend the Black Sea grain deal, saying that the accord brokered by Türkiye and the UN was not being properly implemented.

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U.S. to provide additional $1.3 billion in aid to Ukraine

The United States will send $1.3 billion more in aid to Ukraine to help the conflict-hit country overhaul its energy grid and modernize its ports, railways and other infrastructure, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

"Recovery is about laying the foundation for Ukraine to thrive as a secure, independent country, fully integrated with Europe, connected to markets around the world," Blinken told the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London.

"With the support of the U.S. Congress, we will provide more than $1.3 billion in additional aid to help Ukraine toward that goal."

Of that amount, $520 million will go towards helping Ukraine overhaul its battered energy grid, while $657 million will be used to help modernize its border crossings, ports, rail lines and other critical infrastructure, Blinken said.

About $100 million will be used to help digitize Ukraine's customs and other systems "to boost speed and to cut corruption" and another $35 million to help Ukrainian businesses through financing and insurance.

The new aid comes on top of more than $20 billion in economic and development assistance the United States has provided to Ukraine, Blinken said.

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