Have you missed 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 essentials of the day.
The fact of the day
Emmanuel Macron detailed, in the British weeklyThe Economist, his plan to avoid a “brutal” death of Europe, assuming in the process his controversial position on the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine, if Moscow were to “break through the front lines”. “If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there was a Ukrainian request – which is not the case today – we should legitimately ask ourselves the question,” said the French president in a long statement. interview published this Thursday.
The French head of state created controversy at the end of February by affirming that the sending of Western troops to Ukrainian soil should not “be excluded” in the future. Most European countries, as well as the United States, clearly stood out, even if some have since taken a step in its direction.
always in The Economist, Emmanuel Macron affirms that Russia “has entered into a logic of total war”. And he must be prevented from winning in Ukraine, otherwise “we will no longer have security in Europe”. The “death” of Europe could be “much more brutal than we imagine,” he insisted on Thursday. According to him, “a start is possible” but must be “much deeper” in the face of a “triple existential risk for our Europe”: “military and security”, “economic” and democratic.
Today’s statement
“ As always, these accusations seem completely unfounded »
This was stated to the press by the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, this Thursday, in response to American accusations asserting that Russia used a chemical agent against Ukrainian forces, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). On Wednesday, the US State Department accused Moscow of using a “chemical weapon”, chloropicrin, against Ukrainian troops, in violation of the CIAC, signed and ratified by Russia.
Chloropicrin was used extensively during the First World War as a suffocating gas. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it is a chemical agent that damages the respiratory system and can cause severe irritation to the skin and eyes.
“The use of these chemicals is not an isolated incident and is likely motivated by the desire of Russian forces to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and make tactical advances on the battlefield,” the department wrote of state. Russia has said it no longer possesses a military chemical arsenal, but the country faces pressure for more transparency over the use of toxic weapons it is accused of.
The number of the day
160. This is the number of delegations invited by Switzerland to participate in its conference on peace in Ukraine, according to the government website dedicated to the event. “This is a first step for a process for lasting peace,” declared Swiss President Viola Amherd on April 10, announcing the meeting which will take place on June 15 and 16 in central Switzerland.
Among the guests are member states of the G7, G20, BRICS, many other countries from all continents as well as the EU, three international organizations (UN, OSCE and Council of Europe) and two representatives of the religious world (the Vatican and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople). Russia has not been invited “at this stage”. The Swiss federal government emphasizes that the final list of participants will only be known “very shortly before the conference”.
The G7 summit will take place not far away, in Italy, from June 13 to 15 and this gives hope that the heads of state and government of these countries allied with Ukraine will make the trip. For the moment, the presence of American presidents Joe Biden, Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky or French Emmanuel Macron has not been confirmed. Neither does that of China, Russia’s ally.
The trend
The Russian army claimed Thursday the capture of a new village in eastern Ukraine, continuing its slow advance in this area near the town of Avdiïvka, conquered by Moscow in February. Russian forces “completely liberated the village of Berdychi,” the Defense Ministry said.
On Sunday, Ukraine indicated that it was withdrawing to the west of this locality and two other neighbors, Semenivka and Novomykhailivka. It is in this area that the Ukrainian forces had installed their defensive lines after the fall of the fortress town of Avdiïvka, largely destroyed by Russian bombings.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, admitted on Sunday that the situation on the front had “deteriorated”, with Russian troops, superior in weapons and soldiers, having achieved “tactical successes” in several areas .
Russia has the initiative against an adversary which is struggling to recruit new soldiers and is faced with slowness in Western aid. The resumption of American military assistance, after the validation at the end of April of a $61 billion aid plan for kyiv, should allow Ukraine to consolidate its forces and attempt to stabilize the front, particularly in the East.