South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol promised to “increase the scale” of his humanitarian aid during a surprise visit.
Will the Ukrainian grain agreement be extended again? While it is due to end Monday at midnight, Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated on Saturday July 15 that the objective “major” of this compromise was not “accomplished”. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of the day.
Surprise visit by the South Korean president, who announces an increase in aid from Seoul
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has pledged to“increase the scale” of its humanitarian aid and non-lethal military assistance to Ukraine. It will increase to 150 million dollars in 2023 against 100 million dollars in 2022, he assured. The South Korean leader made the announcement after meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in kyiv, during a surprise visit to Ukraine. Before meeting with the Ukrainian president, Yoon Suk Yeol visited the town of Boutcha, the scene of a massacre of civilians attributed to the Russian army, and to Irpin.
South Korea, the world’s ninth-largest arms exporter, sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine and also sold tanks and howitzers to Poland, a key Kyiv ally. But the country has long had a policy of not supplying arms to regions in conflict, despite repeated requests from the United States, European allies and Ukraine for more aid.
South Korea produces large volumes of weapons compatible with NATO armament, including tanks, howitzers and highly sought-after shell ammunition. The country has hinted that it may reconsider its policy of not supplying lethal weapons: Yoon Suk Yeol’s office hinted earlier this year that a large-scale Russian attack on civilians could change the given.
However, the situation in Seoul is delicate, “especially the relationship with Russia, which can have a negative influence on the Korean peninsula, through North Korea”reports to franceinfo Antoine Bondaz, researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS), teacher at Sciences-Po Paris and a great specialist in Asia.
kyiv says 494 children have died since the start of the war
This is a count published by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine on Telegram. So far, 494 children have been killed and 1,552 injured since the start of the war in Ukraine. The world notes that “these numbers are continuously rising due to census work in combat zones”.
The “main” objective of the Ukrainian grain agreement is not “realized”, judge Vladimir Putin
Signed in July 2022 in Istanbul (Turkey) and already renewed twice, the Ukrainian cereals agreement is due to expire Monday evening at midnight. Over the past year, it has enabled nearly 33 million tonnes of cereals to be taken out of Ukrainian ports despite the conflict. But the Russian president considered that the main objective of the agreement was not fulfilled.
“Vladimir Putin stressed that the obligations set out in the Russia-UN memorandum on the removal of obstacles for the export of Russian food products and fertilizers are still not fulfilled”, the Kremlin wrote in a statement following a phone call between the Russian president and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa. Vladimir Poutine had already estimated, Thursday evening, that “not one” Russian demands were not taken into account during negotiations to extend the agreement.