Withdrawal of Russian troops completed; United States warns: Long-term consequences

Withdrawal of Russian troops completed; United States warns: Long-term consequences

The UN General Assembly will vote today on the request of Western countries for Russia to be excluded from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) due to its military intervention in Ukraine, the UN said.

A two-thirds majority in the UN General Assembly is needed to suspend a country. Russia is currently in the second year of its three-year mandate in the UNHRC, which consists of 47 members.

President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, called on the international governments to strengthen the sanctions against Russia, emphasizing that not doing so would be equal to "allowing" the attacks on Ukraine to continue.

Metro station in Kharkov

The Pentagon says the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kyiv and Chernihiv has been completed.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Russian army was completely withdrawn from the territory of the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine.

"We do not notice Russian troops in Kyiv, Chernigov or nearby," he said.

Hahn: Ukraine will need the Marshall Plan after the war with Russia

After the war with Russia, Ukraine will need a reconstruction plan similar to the one offered by the United States to Europe after the Second World War, European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn said.

Under the post-World War Two U.S. scheme known as the Marshall Plan, the United States granted Europe the present-day equivalent of some $200 billion over four years in economic and technical assistance.

"I think that what we need for Ukraine, at the end of the day, is an updated model of the Marshall Plan," Hahn told a news briefing," Hahn said at news briefing, as Reuters reported.

He added that it would help Ukraine's rapid renewal and would lead to a faster convergence of Ukraine with the European Union. Kyiv has applied to become a formal candidate to join the 27 nation bloc. Even in peacetime that process is long, and it has been made almost impossible by the war raging in the country, according to Reuters.

Hahn did not give any estimate of how much money could be needed, but said the effort of rebuilding Ukraine could not be shouldered by Europe alone and that probably G20 countries would have to participate, including Russia.