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       It's the Pentagon's first announced security package for Ukraine since December, when it acknowledged it was out of replenishment funds.

       It wasn't until recent days that officials publicly acknowledged they weren't just out of money to buy replacement weapons, they are overdrawn financially by billions.

       The announcement comes as Ukraine is running dangerously low on munitions and efforts to get fresh funds for weapons have stalled in the House because of Republican opposition.

       U.S. officials have insisted for months that the United States wouldn’t be able to resume weapons deliveries until Congress provided the additional replenishment funds, which are part of the stalled supplemental spending bill.

       President Joe Biden meets with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the East Room of the White Housr Andrew Harnik/AP

       The replenishment funds have allowed the Pentagon to pull existing munitions, air defence systems and other weapons from its reserve inventories under presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, to send to Ukraine and then sign contracts to order replacements, which are needed to maintain US military readiness.

       The Pentagon also has had a separate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI, which has allowed it to fund longer-term contracts with industry to produce new weapons for Ukraine.

       Senior defence officials who briefed reporters said the Pentagon was able to get cost savings in some of those longer-term contracts and, given the battlefield situation, decided to use those savings to send more weapons.

       The officials said the cost savings basically offset the new package and keep the replenishment spending underwater at just over €9 billion.

       Pentagon Press Secretary, Major General Pat Ryder told reporters, “This is not a sustainable way to support Ukraine.”

       Ryder called it a “one time good deal" that officials can't plan on occurring again.

       The aid announcement came as Polish leaders were in Washington to press the US to break its impasse over funds for Ukraine at a critical moment in the war.

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       Moldova has slammed Moscow's decision to open polling stations in the breakaway Transnistria region ahead of presidential elections in Russia on 15 -17 March, summoning the Russian ambassador on Tuesday.

       Transnistria is not recognised internationally as a sovereign state, with the EU defining the territory as militarily occupation by Russia.

       Although officially unrecognised, Transnistria is a de facto presidential republic within Moldova - with its own government, parliament and military.

       "The State of the Republic of Moldova acts where it can control the environment and accordingly we will not admit violations on the territory controlled by the constitutional authorities," Dorin Recean, Prime Minister of Moldova, told journalists after the meeting.

       The Russian ambassador said Russian diplomacy would respect the right to vote of all Russian citizens.

       Some 200,000 Russian citizens live in Transnistria, according to local pro-Russian authorities.

       "There have been many requests to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, as well as to the Embassy. People [with Russian citizenship] asked for their legal right to vote," Oleg Vasnetsov, Russian Ambassador to Moldova, said.

       Moldova's Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi speaks during joint statements with Romanian counterpart Luminita Odobescu in Bucharest, Romania, Feb. 6, 2024.Associated Press

       On Monday, local media announced that the Russian Federation will open six polling stations in the Transnistria region and people with expired or Soviet-era passports able to vote.

       Voting in Russia's upcoming presidential election - which Vladimir Putin is all but certain to win - extends to territories annexed by Russia, including Crimea and the occupied parts of southeastern Ukraine.

       Russian personnel fighting in Ukraine have already begun to cast their ballots for the vote between 15 to 17 March, despite resistance by Kyiv.

       The past two years have been the hardest and most tumultuous for European Union candidate Moldova in more than three decades as it faces threats from Russia in multiple spheres of public life, the country's foreign minister has said.

       Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, fears have grown in Moldova that the country is also in the Kremlin's crosshairs.

       These included errant missiles landing on its territory; a severe energy crisis after Moscow dramatically reduced gas supplies; rampant inflation; and protests by pro-Russia parties against the pro-Western government.

       Moldova has also taken in the highest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita of any country.

       Moldova gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but Russia continues to see the country - sandwiched between Ukraine and EU member Romania - as within its sphere of influence.

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       The largest mosque in Belgium's Wallonia region has just opened its doors after more than a decade of construction.

       The Kanuni Sultan Süleyman mosque is situated in Liège, and was funded entirely by its worshippers, received no subsidies from the Belgian government or donations from abroad. The full cost of construction came to some €4.5 million.

       Covering an impressive 1,300 square meters, this contemporary white complex features a 450-square metre mosque crowned with a dome, albeit without minarets. The mosque can welcome up to 600 worshippers.

       Mehmet Aydogdu, Liège's representative of Culture and Interculturalism, described the vision behind the mosque's design, “Our idea was not to make architecture related to Central Anatolia, the Middle East or North Africa. It was to reach universality – therefore a 'Belgitude'”.

       Built on a former coal site which has seen many generations of Turkish miners pass by, forged by a 1964 agreement allowing Turkish labor migration to Belgium.

       Imam Ertugrul Yilmaz, was born and bread in Wallonia before pursuing his higher education in Turkey, said, "It’s with great pride for me to come back, to be an imam, because I grew up with them. I know them, they know me. We can work together.

       “We would like to welcome everyone, do activities together, show that we live together, that we are also Belgian, that we are part of this community.”

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       Beyond its role as a place of worship, the mosque complex includes a cultural centre accessible to all, hosting a variety of events such as conferences, educational programs, and communal activities, further promoting dialogue and understanding among diverse communities.