what to remember from Monday March 11

The Ukrainian president said the situation was “much better” on the front, while the Hungarian prime minister predicted a rapid end to the war if Donald Trump came to power in the United States.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was optimistic on Monday March 11, affirming that the situation was “much better” on the front that these “last three months”. Furthermore, Poland called on NATO countries to increase their military budgets to 3% of GDP in response to Russian aggression. Franceinfo takes stock of the highlights of the day.

Volodymyr Zelensky assures that “the Russian advance has been stopped”

After setbacks for his army against Russian forces, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was optimistic, saying in an interview with BFMTV and World that “Russia’s advance has been stopped” and that the situation was “much better” on the front “only in the last three months”.

“Your children are not going to die in Ukraine”, moreover continued the Ukrainian president, assuring that the sending of foreign troops was not necessary for the moment. On February 26, French President Emmanuel Macron affirmed that sending troops to Ukraine in the future should not be “be excluded”sparking international controversy.

“As long as Ukraine holds, the French army can remain on French territory”assured Volodymyr Zelensky. “But if Putin manages to attack another NATO country, well it is the NATO countries that would have to decide how, in what quantity, their army should be sent or not”he added.

However, he pleaded for the sending of “technical staff” For “co-production” French Caesar cannons or German Leopard tanks and for “training”. “More than 1 000 kilometers” defensive lines are built or being built on the front in Ukraine, he further declared, referring to “a very complex task”.

Donald Trump ‘won’t give a cent’ to Ukraine, says Viktor Orban

Returning to his country after a visit to the United States during which he met Donald Trump, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, affirmed that the former president and very likely Republican candidate had told him that he “wouldn’t give a cent” to Ukraine if he returned to the White House.

“If the Americans do not pay money, the Europeans will not be able to finance this war alone. And therefore the war will be over”because “it is obvious that Ukraine cannot get out of this on its own”he added.

Viktor Orban, who met Russian President Vladimir Putin in September 2023, refuses to send any military support to Ukraine and regularly calls for a ceasefire, convinced that kyiv cannot win.

kyiv summons Vatican ambassador

A military defeat for kyiv against the Russian steamroller was also mentioned on Saturday by Pope Francis, who called on Ukraine to have “the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate” with Moscow.

In protest, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that the Vatican representative in kyiv had been summoned. Ukrainian diplomacy accused the pope of “legalize the rights of the strongest” and encourage them to “continue to ignore international law”.

“The head of the Holy See should have sent signals to the international community about the need to immediately unite forces to ensure the victory of good over evil, and appeal to the aggressor, not the victim”kyiv further estimated.

Poland calls on NATO countries to increase their military budgets to 3% of GDP

Polish President Andrzej Duda said NATO member countries should increase their military budgets from 2% to 3% of their GDP, as a response to Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The alliance currently has a spending target set at 2% of GDP, a threshold not respected by several countries. Poland, for its part, already spends around 4% of its GDP on defense.

“I want to propose in the near future (…) that NATO countries decide together that the requirement of the Alliance will be to spend not 2%, but 3% of GDP on defense”, he told the press before his visit to Washington and Brussels. “This will be the limit below which it will absolutely not be recommended to go”added the head of state who is due to meet the American president on Tuesday, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.