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7:37 p.m. : Two ultra-right activists were sentenced today to 15 months in prison, including six months in prison, after being arrested on Saturday evening heavily armed on their return from Ukraine. According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, these two men had arrived at the Paris-Bercy bus station.in possession of optics and ammunition magazines classified as weapons of war“.
5:42 p.m. : Paris calls the Chinese ambassador “to use his public speech in accordance with the official positions of his country”, after the controversial statements of the diplomat, announces the Quai d’Orsay in a press release. The interview, “long-planned”was held this afternoon between the Chief of Staff of the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Chinese Ambassador to France, Lu Shaye.
5:06 p.m. : On the sidelines of the summit, Emmanuel Macron also reacted to the remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France, Lu Shaye, who had questioned Friday “the status of sovereign country” territories of the former USSR. “I think it’s not not the place of a diplomat to hold this type of languagedid he declare. So, full solidarity with the countries that have been attacked in the reading of their history and their borders”.
2:01 p.m. : However, the time has not come for the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces, because they find it advantageous to resist. “The enemy does not abandon the objective of encircling the cityhe says on Telegram. He uses all the forces and all possible means to achieve this, until the total destruction of the city”. (UKRAINIAN GROUND FORCES)
3:11 p.m. : “Our fighters carry out not only defensive actions in Bakhmout, but also counter-offensives. This gives us the opportunity to hold back the enemy’s onslaught, limit the expansion of the front in this direction, destroy its best units and save time.”
“The situation remains tense towards Bakhmout”says Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
2:06 p.m. : Last week, two former soldiers of Wagner delivered the story of abuses committed in Ukraine. They then spoke of threats against them, after the broadcast of their testimonies. One of the two men has just been arrested in Russia, reports the Gulagu.net site, which had collected their word. The former paramilitary says that fighters from the paramilitary group were waiting for him at the entrance to the investigation committee, and that they beat him in the presence of the police.
1:48 p.m. : In detail, this report, which franceinfo has obtained, counts 31,273 people killed or injured by explosive weapons in 2022 (including 20,793 civilians) against 19,722 in 2021 (including 11,343 civilians). A total of 50,995 people have been killed or injured under these conditions in the space of two years, including 32,136 civilians.
1:47 p.m. : In 2022, the number of civilian victims of the use of explosive weapons increased by 83% compared to 2021, according to a report published by the Explosive Weapons Observatory, in which Handicap International, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) participates ) and Insecurity Insight. This increase in the number of victims is due in particular to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the increasing use of this type of weapon in the conflicts in Ethiopia, Burma and Somalia.
12:32 p.m. : “We are getting closer to a momentous battle for the history of Ukraine.”
Kyrylo Budanov, director of Ukrainian military intelligence, believes that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is close, without however giving a date or place. “There is only one way to end this war: restore the borders of 1991”with Crimea, he told the media RBK Ukraine (article in Ukrainian). “I think that significant areas of territory will be recovered by force during this operation.”
10:31 a.m. : “After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the countries concerned”said the spokesperson.
10:37 : “China respects the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all countries and supports the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”
Beijing seems to be distancing itself from Lu Shaye’s remarks. “China respects the sovereign state status of the republics” born after the fall of the USSR, says a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
10:24 a.m. : These comments have sparked a lively controversy in Europe. Nearly 80 European parliamentarians called on the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, in a platform at the World yesterday at “declare Ambassador Lu Shaye persona non grata, in response to his totally unacceptable behavior”.
10:25 a.m. : On Friday, Lu Shaye said on LCI that the countries of the former USSR “do not have effective status in international law, because there is no international agreement to concretize their status as a sovereign country”. He also questioned whether Crimea belongs to Ukraine. This territory had been annexed by Russia in 2014.
(MARTIN BUREAU / AFP)
10:26 : Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will summon the Chinese ambassadors to their respective capitals, after remarks by the Chinese ambassador to France questioning “the status of sovereign country” territories of the former USSR. The three countries want “ask for clarification” on Beijing’s position.
11:25 a.m. : 🗣 War in Ukraine: “We are going to deliver additional rails, additional buses, additional boats”, announces Clément Beaune who visited the country for three days. “They want to project themselves into the aftermath,” says the Minister of Transport. https://t.co/tIxyCAF6D7
09:37 : Guest on franceinfo, Clément Beaune repeats this morning that France has promised to provide trains, buses and boats to Ukraine. The country’s infrastructure has been heavily damaged by the war.
09:27 : The city of Sevastopol, in annexed Crimea, was targeted by two surface drones during the night. Local occupation leader Mikhail Razvojaev says on Telegram (content in Russian) that one of them was destroyed by the defense, and the other exploded on its own. He adds that the episode took place out of town. On a video that appeared this morning, an explosion is however visible in the harbor. The Ukrainian camp has not yet delivered any comments.
07:21 : In Russia, convictions are more and more common for expressing opposition to power. In case of support for Ukraine, one can be denounced by his colleagues, his students or his table neighbor at the restaurant.
08:52 : Investments in the armies “are pulled by the war in Ukraine, which is pushing up European budgets, but also by unresolved and growing tensions in East Asia.”
08:52 : This is both the strongest growth recorded for more than 30 years, and the return (in constant dollars) to the level of expenditure of 1989, the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In summary, according to one of the co-authors of the study, “unheard of since the end of the cold war”.
08:51 : Military spending in Europe rose again last year to its level at the end of the Cold War. According to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, a reference in this field, Europeans spent, after deducting inflation, 13% more on their armies in 2022.