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 dramatic results of the fighting, here is the gist of the day.
The fact of the day
Qatar reunited with their families in Ukraine four Ukrainian children who were on Russian territory after being taken by Moscow authorities following the invasion, in February 2022. The Foreign Ministry in Doha, in a press release, said he hoped to see this operation mark “the beginning” of a process aimed at allowing the repatriation of more children to Ukraine. At a press conference in Moscow on Monday, Russian Children’s Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova did not confirm the agreement, but praised Qatar’s “mediator” role, particularly regarding the “child reunification process”.
As a reminder, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova for the “illegal deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children since February 2022. According to the wife of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Olena Zelenska, more than 19,000 Ukrainian children were transferred or forcibly taken to Russia or occupied regions. Only 386 were brought back to Ukraine.
Sentence of the day
Everything Russia does today within the OSCE is killing this organization. The OSCE situation is very complicated, painful, but the choice is very simple: either a slow death with Russia, or a new life without it. (…) When it comes to matters of life and death, we all have to choose. »
These are the words of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, who, this Monday in Kiev, held a joint press conference with the current chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Bujar Osmani. At the end of the meeting between the two leaders, Dmytro Kouleba once again called for the “exclusion” of Russia from the OSCE, formed in 1975 to promote East-West dialogue. It has long been confined to the role of maintaining diplomatic channels in “frozen conflicts”.
The number of the day
5. That’s how many leaders Vladimir Putin must have on the phone today. The head of the Kremlin is due to meet with Egyptian President Al-Sissi, that of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after having called during the day the Iranian leaders Ebrahim Raïssi and Syrian Bashar al-Assad.
Today’s trend
Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping
Wednesday in China, the Kremlin announced Monday, seven months after a summit in Moscow which sealed the “limitless” friendship between their two countries and in the midst of the conflict in Ukraine. “The leaders will discuss in a friendly and frank manner (…) urgent problems of bilateral practical cooperation and the international agenda,” explained the Kremlin diplomatic advisor, Yuri Ushakov, quoted by Russian news agencies.
Vladimir Putin, who will travel to China alongside several major Russian bosses, is also due to speak at the “Belt and Road” forum, “just after President Xi Jinping”, the Russian diplomat stressed on Monday. During his trip to China, Vladimir Putin will also have bilateral talks with the leaders of Vietnam, Laos, Mongolia and Thailand.
For his part, the head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov, currently visiting China, will visit North Korea on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced in a press release on Monday. This visit comes a little more than a month after a trip to Russia by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The latter and Vladimir Putin then advocated a strengthening of bilateral ties. The Russian president notably assured that he saw “prospects” of military cooperation with Pyongyang, in the midst of armed conflict between kyiv and Moscow.