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
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed on the phone with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron the “strengthening” of Ukraine’s military capabilities, which expects a new Russian bombing campaign this winter. “President Macron and I focused on the next steps in strengthening Ukraine’s air defense, long-range (weapons) and naval capabilities,” Zelensky wrote on X.
The Ukrainian head of state stressed that his country attached “great importance to military aid from France”, which notably provided Caesar artillery cannons and promised long-range Scalp missiles. Still according to Zelensky, the two leaders also discussed the corridor in the Black Sea intended for grain exports that Ukraine wants to put in place despite the Russian blockade and the situation in the Middle East.
Sentence of the day
We greatly appreciate your principled and unambiguous support for Russia’s actions in the framework of the special military operation in Ukraine. »
These are the words of Sergei Lavrov, quoted by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti. The head of Russian diplomacy is traveling to North Korea for an official visit. Sergei Lavrov notably thanked Pyongyang for its recognition of the annexation, claimed by Moscow in September 2022, of four occupied Ukrainian regions, North Korea being the only country in the world to have done so.
The number of the day
42. Chinese President Xi Jinping recalled that he had met Vladimir Putin “42 times over the past ten years” and that the two men had “developed a good working relationship and deep friendship”. Xi Jinping spoke this Wednesday in Beijing with his Russian counterpart, welcoming the “growing” mutual trust between the two countries, Chinese state media said.
Today’s trend
The Russian army is preparing an “escalation” of its offensive against the town of Avdiïvka, in eastern Ukraine, its mayor said, a week after the start of Moscow’s assault on this industrial city located on the front line since 2014.
Speaking on Ukrainian television, Vitali Barabach indicated that if the situation was “calmer” in recent days, it was because Russian forces were preparing a new attack after being stopped by the Ukrainians. “This is not the end of this story which began on October 10 (…). The (Ukrainian) resistance has stabilized the situation currently, but we are seeing things and it is not over, he assured. In the coming days we expect an escalation. »
For his part, Vladimir Putin, who has been insisting for months that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is a failure, affirmed that his troops were “improving their position” on almost the entire front. The Russian president also affirmed this Wednesday that the long-range missiles delivered by the United States to Ukraine would only “prolong the agony” of this country.
“The main thing is that (these missiles) are not going to radically change things on the line of contact, it is impossible,” said the Russian president during a press conference in Beijing, at the end of his visit to China. “For Ukraine, there will be nothing good. The agony will be prolonged,” he added, considering that Washington was therefore making “a mistake.”