More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Ukraine "will not allow anyone to impose any concessions on us" as part of efforts to de-escalate the threat of conflict with Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CNN in an exclusive interview Tuesday.
Kuleba emphasized that the country would not accept any compromises aimed at placating Russian President Vladimir Putin, amid fears Russia may be planning to invade Ukraine -- something Moscow denies.
"If anyone makes a concession on Ukraine, behind Ukraine's back, first, we will not accept that. We will not be in the position of the country that picks up the phone, hears the instruction of the big power and follows it," said Kuleba.
"We paid a lot -- including 15,000 lives of our citizens -- to secure the right to decide our own future, our own destiny," he insisted.
Ukraine has warned that Russia is trying to destabilize the country ahead of any planned military invasion.
Western powers have repeatedly warned Russia against further aggressive moves against Ukraine.
The Kremlin denies it is planning to attack and argues that NATO support for Ukraine -- including increased weapons supplies and military training -- constitutes a growing threat on Russia's western flank.
Kuleba said he has no doubts about the U.S.'s commitment to defending Ukraine, despite comments from President Joe Biden suggesting that a "minor incursion" by Russian troops might not lead to a severe response from the NATO military alliance.
"First, President Biden is personally committed to Ukraine. He knows this country, and he doesn't want Russia to destroy it," said Kuleba.
"Second, we heard from those U.S. officials, speaking openly to the media, but also speaking to me and to other Ukrainian officials directly on the phone, that the United States will remain absolutely committed to slashing Russia if any type of incursion, invasion, interference takes place," he added.
Kuleba called the U.S.'s plan to reduce staff levels at its embassy in Kyiv, beginning with the departure of nonessential staff and family members, "premature."
He said he respected every country's right to protect its citizens, but added that an evacuation "spreads panic" and plays into Putin's aim "to destabilize Ukraine from the inside and to make us weaker without resorting to military force."
The minister said the U.S. was "definitely not" overstating the threat from Russia.
On Monday around 8,500 U.S. troops were placed on heightened alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe.
Kuleba praised the decision and rejected suggestions that the move could anger Putin and escalate the crisis further.
"If we learned anything since 2014, it's that it's flawed logic to handle President Putin from the perspective: 'Let's do nothing in order not to make him angry.' This is not how it works," he said. "Strength, resolve, deterrence; these are the three elements that work with Putin, he respects strength, this is the fact."
In March 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.
"We have to be smart, we have to be reasonable, but we have to be strong," said Kuleba. "If he feels the slightest signs of weakness, it will only prompt him to further escalate and to resort to war. And that's what we have to avoid."
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”