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
The new head of French diplomacy and his German counterpart reaffirmed on Sunday their countries’ desire to support Ukraine “as long” as necessary in the face of Russia’s offensive.
“We are in full agreement” to say “that we must support the Ukrainians for as long as necessary,” Stéphane Séjourné told the press during a visit to Berlin. “Which means that we must organize at the European level elements of initiatives which are coordinated” on “the defense of our values and our interests”, added the minister, who had gone to Kiev the day before, without give more details.
The head of German diplomacy Annalena Baerbock echoed him by saying that we should remain “on the side of Ukraine as long as necessary”. This position by the two ministers comes at a time when kyiv is worried about seeing its European and American allies increasingly hesitant to grant it more aid to combat the Russian invasion.
Sentence of the day:
“Don’t underestimate these peace talks”
Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis defended Ukraine’s approach to preparing for peace, citing Kiev’s desire to see the broadest possible coalition formed before real negotiations with Russia, reports the website Swiss information The weather.
This declaration comes as more than eighty countries gathered on Sunday in Davos, Switzerland, for the “4th meeting of national security advisors in Davos devoted to the peace formula”, at the initiative of Switzerland and Ukraine.
The number of the day
40,000. This is the number of Russian soldiers deployed to take Avdiïvka. This figure is given by Colonel Oleksandr Shtupun, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian forces, reported by the newspaper Le Monde. The Russians would have mobilized around 40,000 men to take this town in Donbass, transformed into a fortified place by the Ukrainians from 2014 and which remains one of the hot spots on the front.
Today’s trend
North Korea’s foreign minister will visit Russia next week, official North Korean media reported Sunday, as Washington and its allies condemned alleged arms transfers from Pyongyang to Moscow for its war in Ukraine. Russia and North Korea, long-time allies, have shown a rapprochement since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s trip to the Russian Far East in September 2023 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In early January, the White House accused North Korea of transferring ballistic missiles and launchers to Russia, in what it called a “significant and concerning escalation” of its support for the country’s war effort. Moscow. Missiles supplied by Pyongyang, with a range of about 900 kilometers, have been used by Russia in attacks against Ukraine, according to U.S. officials.