On Friday, the US president said he was now ready to allow other countries to supply Ukraine with US-made F-16s.
A position expected to say the least by kyiv. The US President has signaled to G7 leaders that he will give its green light for delivery by Westerners of fighter jets to Ukraine, including US F-16s, a senior White House official said on Friday (May 19th). Here is what to remember from this new day in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
US paves way for delivery of F-16 fighter jets to kyiv from other countries
US President Joe Biden is now ready to allow other countries to supply Ukraine with the fighter jets it demands, US-made F-16s. The Head of State, who is taking part in the G7 summit in Japan, assured his interlocutors on Friday of his “support for a joint initiative to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation combat aircraft, including F-16s”according to a senior White House official.
“As the training unfolds over the next few months, our coalition of nations participating in this effort will decide when to provide aircraft, how many, and who will provide them.”, continued the official. Following, Volodymyr Zelensky hailed a decision “historical”. “The UK will work with the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark to provide Ukraine with the combat air capability it needs,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Another night of air attacks in Ukraine
kyiv and other Ukrainian cities were attacked again at dawn on Friday by Russian forces, according to the Ukrainian army, which claimed to have intercepted all the explosive drones that targeted the capital.
“The tenth air attack in 19 days in May!” wrote on Telegram the military administration of the city of Kyiv, which reported on “several waves” explosive drones at night. “All detected air targets moving in the direction of kyiv have been destroyed”, she asserted.
Moscow has recruited nearly 120,000 contract soldiers this year, according to Dmitry Medvedev
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday that Moscow had recruited since January 1, 2023 nearly 120,000 contract soldiers for its army. The Russian military suffered heavy losses in Ukraine, prompting it to bail out sparse ranks. Anticipating a major counter-offensive by Ukrainian troops, Moscow has launched a vast recruitment campaign in recent weeks.
The leader, currently number 2 of the Russian Security Council, welcomed “continuation of work” to increase the manpower of the army “under the instructions given by [Vladimir Poutine] on the subject”.
International Criminal Court prosecutor placed on Russia’s wanted list
International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan has been placed on Russia’s wanted list, according to a notice issued by the Russian Interior Ministry, two months after the ICC issued an arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin. He is accused of having “initiated criminal proceedings against a notoriously innocent person” and of “preparing an attack on a representative of a foreign state”.
Vladimir Putin is accused by the ICC, based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, of war crimes for the “illegal deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children in the context of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Charges rejected by Russia.
New G7 sanctions against Russia
The leaders of the G7 countries meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, decided on new sanctions aimed at “deprive Russia of the G7 technologies, industrial equipment and services that support its war enterprise”. New measures include restrictions on exports of goods “essential for Russia on the battlefield”.
A little earlier, the European Union had announced its intention to “limit the trade in Russian diamonds”. The United Kingdom has also announced new sanctions against Russia, relating to diamonds, but also to imports of aluminium, copper and nickel. In 2021, Russia exported diamonds worth an estimated $4-5 billion.
And new sanctions from Washington against Moscow
New US sanctions against Russia will also hit Moscow in all sectors and aim to deprive Russians of support in the war in Ukraine, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced on Friday. “The measures taken today will limit the capacity of the [président russe Vladimir] Putin to continue his barbaric invasion (…) and circumvent the sanctions” already in place, she said, alongside the G7 summit in Japan.
In concrete terms, the United States places “more than 300” people, companies, ships and planes, across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, on their blacklist. They ban US exports to 70 entities in Russia and other countries.
Russia bans 500 US citizens, including Barack Obama, from entering its territory
After the presentation of these new American sanctions, Russia announced that it was prohibiting the entry into its territory of 500 Americans, including former President Barack Obama, in retaliation.
“Washington should have known long ago that no hostile action toward Russia will go unanswered,” said the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow has announced that it is blacklisting members of the US Congress, research institutes “involved in the dissemination of Russophobic attitudes and false information”, as well as company managers who “supply arms to Ukraine”.
Any mediation involving loss of territory or freezing of the conflict will be refused by Kyiv
Ukraine refuses any peace mediation with Russia, which would not rule out any territorial loss for kyiv or a cessation of fighting from the outset, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Friday in Lisbon.
“No peace plan or initiative, no mediation should involve any legal or real loss of Ukrainian territory”he said after a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart Joao Gomes Cravinho. “No initiative, no mediation should be based on the premise that we should freeze the conflict and then see what happens”he added.