Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the battles, here are the main points of the day.
The fact of the day
Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometer border with Russia, announced that it was considering restricting border traffic or even closing its crossing points with Moscow, after an increase in the number of illegal migrant crossings. Border guards recorded 39 people arriving at the southeast border this Monday, more than the 34 recorded over the whole of last week.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Russia was deliberately letting migrants cross the border despite the lack of valid papers, suggesting it was an attempt to destabilize its neighbor. The Kremlin had, in fact, promised in April to take “countermeasures” after Finland’s accession to NATO, describing the enlargement of the Western alliance as “an attack on the security” of Russia .
As a reminder, Finland unveiled a plan at the end of 2022 to build a vast fence over 200 kilometers of its – largely uninhabited – border with Russia. It must be completed in 2026.
The number of the day
300,000. This is the number of artillery munitions supplied by the European Union to Ukraine since the start of the war. The fact remains that the EU will not be able to deliver a million munitions to Kiev before the spring, as it had committed to doing, while 40% of European production is intended for export to around thirty other countries. than Ukraine.
Sentence of the day
In all our conversations with the Ukrainian government, we have insisted that we will continue to stand with them”
These are the words of the spokesperson for the American State Department. Matthew Miller thus echoed the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, who promised Andriy Yermak, Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, that the support of the United States towards Kiev would continue, including during the winter. Antony Blinken discussed “the measures that we can take together with Ukraine to strengthen its infrastructure ahead of the coming winter,” said Matthew Miller, while Russian strikes on essential infrastructure are once again expected during this season.
Today’s trend
The European Commission hopes to announce tomorrow, Wednesday, a new package of sanctions against Russia, which should put an end to Russian exports of diamonds to the EU, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell announced on Monday. “We are finalizing the last details of this package” of sanctions, the 12th since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Josep Borrell told the press.
A package imagined while Moscow is accused of financing part of its war against Ukraine thanks to the lucrative trade in diamonds, which represent a turnover of around four to five billion dollars per year.
And this new package of sanctions comes as the EU also seeks to consolidate its military support for Ukraine. Once decided, these sanctions will still have to be unanimously approved by the 27 EU countries.