Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? Do not panic, 20 minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below.
The fact of the day
Ukraine claims to have captured key high positions around Bakhmout in the east of the country, allowing it to threaten Russian troops in the city as Kiev continues its counter-offensive under difficult conditions. “Our troops have taken control of key heights around Bakhmout,” Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Telegram, adding that this has allowed Ukrainian soldiers to control for several days “entries, exits and movements of the enemy in the city”.
sentence of the day
Ukraine’s membership in NATO would be very negative for European security”
A thinly veiled threat. On the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius, where the question of Kiev’s candidacy will be debated, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that “Ukraine’s accession to NATO will have very , very negative on the entire European security architecture”. He denounces a “threat” for Russia which would then push it to “a clear and firm reaction”.
The number of the day
14. Like the number of square kilometers that Ukraine says it took back from Russia last week, an area equivalent to that of Rueil-Malmaison. “More than 10 km² of Ukrainian land was liberated in southern Ukraine last week,” Andriy Kovalyov, a military spokesman, told Ukrainian television, adding that 4 km² were also liberated. “in the Bakhmout sector”, in the East. These figures bring to 193 km² the total area taken over by Ukraine since the launch of its counter-offensive in early June.
The trend of the day
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is driving Westerners crazy. The Turkish president indicated, on the eve of the NATO summit that Sweden is waiting to join, that Ankara would only give the green light if other negotiations were reopened: those on Turkey’s accession negotiations to the EU. The European Commission had estimated at the end of 2020 that the latter were “at a standstill” because of decisions contrary to the interests of the EU taken by Ankara, in particular in terms of human rights.
“Almost all NATO members are EU members. I am addressing these countries which have made Turkey wait for more than fifty years and I will address them in Vilnius”, launched the Turkish president before flying to Lithuania. “Our nation has expectations (…) We are Turkey, we are not an ordinary country,” he insisted. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz immediately reacted by objecting that Turkey’s candidacy for the EU is “not linked” to Sweden’s membership of NATO.