World Business Chicago will suspend its relationship with Moscow, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Tuesday, in light of events escalating surrounding the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Chicago "needs to go further in its definitive actions against Russia," Lightfoot said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
"While this is not a decision I enter into lightly, we must send an unambiguous message: we strongly condemn all actions by the Putin regime. This suspension will be upheld until the end of hostilities against Ukraine and the Putin regime is held accountable for its crimes. We must continue to support freedom-loving people everywhere and ordinary Russians in their desire to be free," Lightfoot said in the statement.
As of Tuesday, all 31 member countries of the International Energy Agency have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves “to send a strong message to oil markets” that there will be “no shortfall in supplies” as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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The IEA board made the decision at an extraordinary meeting of energy ministers chaired by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. Besides the United States, other members of the organization include Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada.
Granholm said in a statement that President Joe Biden approved a commitment of 30 million barrels and that the U.S. is ready to “take additional measures” if needed.
Also on Tuesday, Russian forces struck a TV tower in Kyiv, Ukraine said.
Local
Ukraine's Defense Ministry warned that television channels would temporarily stop working, but backup broadcasts may return shortly, according to a translation of a tweet from the agency's official account.
A senior U.S. Defense official appeared to reference the attack later Tuesday morning.
"We've seen open press images of at least one strike on a government building in Kyiv. But that's the only one that I'm aware of," the person, who spoke on condition of anonimity, told reporters.
The alleged strike comes as recent satellite imagery appear to show a miles-long convoy of Russian military forces headed toward Kyiv, spreading fears that Ukraine's capital city could soon face a full-scale assault. Russia has set its sights on Kyiv since it invaded its neighbor last week.
