Ukraine is "consolidating their gains" around Kharkiv, US Department of Defense says
From CNN's Michael Conte
The US assesses that the Ukrainians are “consolidating their gains” from retaking territory in the area of Kharkiv, according to the Defense Department.
“In the north, what we assess is that the Ukrainians are consolidating their gains after taking back significant territory, and that the Russians are attempting to shore up their defensive lines after having been pushed back,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder at a briefing with reporters.
Ryder also said that Ukrainian forces are making “deliberate, calculated forward movement” with their counteroffensive in the Kherson area.
“As always, our focus continues to remain on providing them the support that they need in their fight,” Ryder said.
2:22 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
Biden is "not going to let up" on getting detained Americans back to the US, official says
From CNN's Nikki Carvajal
The White House said US President Joe Biden is “not going to let up” on getting Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan back to the United States from Russia. The comments on Friday come as Biden is scheduled to meet with their families.
“What I can tell you for sure is the President is not going to let up,” John Kirby, strategic communications adviser at the National Security Council, told CNN at a press briefing. “He's confident that this is going to remain at the forefront of his mind and his team's mind, and that are going to continue to work this as hard as they can.”
He added that Biden wants “these two individuals home back where they belong with their families."
Asked why Russia hadn’t already accepted a US offer for Griner and Whelan’s return, Kirby said, “If we had the answer to that question, we might already have a deal. I think that's a better question put to our Russian colleagues.”
“We made a serious offer, we want them to accept it,” Kirby said. “Frankly, these two individuals ought to be home anyway, period, but we understand that's probably going to have to be the result of the negotiating process — one that we're willing to participate in honestly and fully, and we've been doing that. We await them to take the offer that's on the table.”
CNN previously reported that the Biden administration offered to exchange Viktor Bout, a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence, as part of a potential deal to secure the release of two Americans held by Russia, according to sources.
2:16 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
White House calls reports of mass burial site in Ukraine "repugnant" and "horrifying"
From CNN's Kevin Liptak
National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, speaks the daily White House briefing in Washington, DC on September 16. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
The White House said reports of a mass burial site in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium are "horrifying" and "repugnant."
John Kirby, the strategic communications adviser at the National Security Council, said the discovery of what Ukrainian officials say is at least 440 graves at the site was "in keeping with the kind of depravity and the brutality with which Russian forces have been prosecuting this war against Ukraine and the Ukrainian people."
Kirby said the United States would continue to “actively support efforts to document war crimes and atrocities that Russian forces commit in Ukraine and assist national and international efforts to identify and hold Russians accountable.”
Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications said on Thursday that some of the graves discovered at Izium were “fresh” and that the bodies buried there were “mostly civilians.”
Izium was subject to intense Russian artillery attacks in April,and the city, which sits near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, became an important hub for the invading military during five months of occupation.
2:14 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
UN General Assembly votes to allow Zelensky to speak by video link
From CNN's Tim Lister
The U.N. General Assembly meets during a special session at the U.N. headquarters in New York City on September 15. (Mike Segar/Reuters)
The UN General Assembly has voted to allow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to address the 77th session of the Assembly by video link.
The vote was 101 in favor and seven against, with 19 abstentions.
The countries voting against were Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Syria and Cuba.
China abstained.
General debate in the Assembly will run from Sept. 20 through Sept. 26.
2:22 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
Release of Americans detained abroad is a top priority for the US, top official says
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a meeting at the Department of State in Washington, DC on September 15. (Jose Luis Magana/Pool/AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the administration is working relentlessly to secure the release of Americans detained abroad, including Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, who are being held in Russia.
Speaking at a news conference Friday, Blinken said the matter is “at the very top of my priority list.” He reiterated that the United States had presented Russia with a “substantial proposal” to secure the release of the two Americans, who have been classified as wrongfully detained.
“I'm not going to get into the details or the back and forth. I don’t think that serves the interest of an agreement. But suffice to say we are working on it every day. And just because we don’t say something or you don’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not happening,” Blinken said.
Some background: A senior administration official told CNN on Thursday that there has been “movement but not breakthrough” on the efforts to free Griner and Whelan.
The official said that the United States has urged Russia to put forward “a serious counteroffer” to the proposal on the table to secure the release of the two, but “we've not gotten a serious response back.”
President Joe Biden is scheduled to meet with Griner and Whelan families at the White House later on Friday, marking his first time personally meeting with them since their loved ones were detained in Russia.
Griner was detained in February for carrying vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. The two-time US Olympic basketball gold medalist pleaded guilty to drug charges and said she accidentally packed the drugs while in a hurry. She has been sentenced to nine years, along with a fine of about $16,400. Her legal team in Russia has appealed the sentence.
Whelan has been imprisoned in Russia for more than three years after being convicted on espionage charges that he vehemently denies. He was sentenced in June 2020 to 16 years in prison in a trial US officials denounced as unfair.
1:00 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
Zelensky meets commanders to discuss next phase of "de-occupation"
From CNN's Yulia Kesaieva in Kyiv
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with senior military commanders to discuss the next steps in Ukraine's "de-occupation" efforts.
According to the Presidency's website, officials including the Commander of Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrsky, the Commander of the Western Command Serhiy Litvinov and the Commander of the South Command Andriy Kovalchuk joined the meeting via videoconference.
"The participants of the meeting considered further steps for the de-occupation of the territories of Ukraine and made the necessary decisions," the statement said.
They had also "updated the list of weapons necessary for the continuation of the operation to liberate Ukrainian lands."
1:05 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
Putin says Russia is in "no hurry" in first public remarks on Ukrainian counteroffensive
From CNN's Uliana Pavlova
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 16. (Sergei Bobylev/Pool/Sputnik/AP)
In his first comments following Kyiv’s successful counteroffensive in northeastern Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the main goal of Russia's "special military operation" — what he calls the Ukraine invasion — has not changed.
Speaking at a press conference at the end of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, Putin said the main goal continued to be “the liberation of the entire territory of Donbas” — the Luhansk and Donetsk regions — and that Russia was in “no hurry.”
"This work continues, despite these attempts to counterattack by the Ukrainian army. Our offensive operation in the Donbas itself does not stop. It continues," Putin said. "It goes at a slow pace, but it keeps going. Gradually, gradually, the Russian army occupies new territories."
On ending the fighting, Putin said, “The Kyiv authorities abandoned all agreements, they were thrown into a drawer and announced that they would not seek any agreements with Russia, but would seek victory on the battlefield.
"Well, the flag is in their hands. They are now just trying to do this by conducting this counteroffensive. Let's see how this ends,” Putin said.
Putin also took aim at the West in his justification for the invasion, claiming that "for decades, the idea of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the collapse of classical Russia has been cultivated in the West."
Some context: This month brought huge strategic losses for the Kremlin as Ukraine carried out counteroffensives in the northeast and south. Ukraine has recaptured a total of 8,000 square kilometers (about 3,088 square miles) of land, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday.
12:56 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
China and India concerns about war in Ukraine are "reflective of concerns around the world," Blinken says
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said concern by Chinese and Indian leaders about the war in Ukraine “is reflective of concerns around the world about the effects of Russia's aggression on Ukraine, not just on the people of Ukraine… but on countries and people across the entire planet.”
“It's an aggression not just against Ukraine and its people, it's an aggression against the very principles of international relations that help keep peace and security,” Blinken said at a news conference at the State Department Friday.
He said the war is a violation of the UN charter, saying that global leaders are noticing the aggression.
“This is something that leaders in countries around the world are feeling because their people are feeling it. And so I think what you’re seeing is just a manifestation of the fact that this aggression has been an aggression against the interests of people across the planet, and I think it increases the pressure on Russia to end the aggression,” he said.
Some context: On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Vladimir Putin that "today’s era is not of war” — a significant rebuke from a leader who has stayed largely silent on the conflict throughout its more than six months duration. A day earlier, Putin acknowledged China's President Xi Jinping had “questions and concerns” regarding the conflict in Ukraine.
1:05 p.m. ET, September 16, 2022
"Document the atrocities," US secretary of state says about reports of Izium mass burial site
From CNN's Jennifer Hansler
Members of the Ukrainian Emergency Service work on an exhumation of a mass burial site in the town of Izium, Kharkiv region on September 16. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he has seen the reports about a mass burial site in Izium, saying it was “part, horrifically, of a continuing, ongoing story” of Russian brutality in Ukraine.
Blinken said there is a need to “build the evidence and document the atrocities that have been committed,” even as Ukrainian forces retake territory.
“In many instances, these will amount to war crimes,” Blinken said at a news conference at the State Department Friday.
Blinken reiterated that the US does not intend to designate Russia as a state sponsor of terror, saying that as a practical matter, the US is applying the penalties that would come with that designation. He also said the designation could have “unintended consequences.”
“What we are doing is working with Congress right now to see if there is another way forward that achieves could be achieved through the use of the SST designation without any of the unintended consequences that would make it more counterproductive than productive,” Blinken said.
