Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ended his European tour with a visit to Brussels.
President Volodymyr Zelensky was welcomed as a hero on Thursday February 9 in Brussels. During his visit, he asked the Twenty-Seven for faster arms deliveries in the face of the advances of the Russian army, a year after the start of the invasion of Ukraine. “We are not just defending our territory, we are defending our European home”, said the Ukrainian leader during a European summit. He has “personally” thanked the Heads of State and Government of the EU for their “unwavering support” these last months. Franceinfo summarizes the main developments of the day in the war in Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelensky completes his European tour
Acclaimed by MEPs, applauded by the leaders of the Twenty-Seven meeting at the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrapped up a European visit to Brussels on Thursday. He called for concrete answers to his request for combat aircraft. The Europeans have so far refused to commit to the aircraft requested by Ukraine and no tangible announcement had come out of Brussels at the start of the evening.
However, the Ukrainian head of state mentioned “positive signals”. “We want to get these planes that we need and there are agreements which (…) are not public”he assured during a press conference, without further details. “I just can’t go home without results”hammered the Ukrainian leader, who had a series of talks with the Member States divided into groups.
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, for his part called on the Member States of the European Union to provide “maximum support” to Ukraine and to send “ammunition, artillery, missiles, vehicles, defense systems”.
The IOC denounces Ukrainian threats to boycott the 2024 Olympics
The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, denounced Ukrainian threats to boycott the 2024 Olympics in Paris if Russian and Belarusian athletes participate. They “go against the fundamentals of the Olympic movement”, according to a letter revealed Thursday by the Ukrainian Olympic Committee. In this response, dated January 31, to the multiple calls from kyiv to exclude the representatives of the two countries, even under a neutral banner, Thomas Bach also assures that the “pressures” Ukrainians are perceived as “extremely regrettable” by “the vast majority” National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and international federations.
“As long as Russian forces continue to bombard you, to target your civilian populations and your infrastructure, as long as Russian soldiers occupy your territory, I do not want Russian athletes to participate in sports events”said the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, during a visit to kyiv.
Moldova says it has identified Russian ‘destabilizing’ activities
The Moldovan intelligence services reported on Thursday that they had detected activities of “destabilize”after comments by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming to have intercepted a Russian plan concerning this former Soviet republic. “Based on information presented by our Ukrainian partner and internal data, we confirm that we have identified activities aimed at weakening and destabilizing Moldova”write these services in a press release. “We cannot give more details at this stage for the risk of compromising” ongoing measures to “elucidate” what happened, they add.
On a visit to Brussels, the Ukrainian head of state said he had “intercepted a plan for the destruction of Moldova, a plan which was in the hands of the Russian intelligence services”. “This plan showed who, when and how to deal a fatal blow to Moldovan democracy”detailed Volodymyr Zelensky. “So I don’t know if, indeed, Moscow gave the order for him to be executed but in any case (…) this plan was very similar to the one they tried to implement against Ukraine .”