kyiv’s allies gathered in Germany to coordinate military aid

What there is to know

Objective: to coordinate military aid in Ukraine. Kiev’s allies are meeting on Friday, April 21 at the Ramstein military base in Germany to establish a common strategy on support for the Ukrainian army, which says it is preparing a major counter-offensive. Organized by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the meeting will also take place in the presence of the head of NATO, who has just returned from kyiv.

Jens Stoltenberg spoke there on Thursday with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who constantly calls on Westerners to deliver more armor, artillery, ammunition, but also combat aircraft and long-range firing systems. to hit Russian warehouses, far behind the front line. Follow our live.

Divisions on combat aircraft deliveries. Ukraine’s president on Thursday urged Jen Stoltenberg to help him “overcome the reluctance of (our) partners regarding the delivery of certain weapons”. The delivery of fighters to Ukraine divides kyiv’s supporters in particular, with Germany being particularly reluctant. Slovakia and Poland have started delivering Soviet-designed Mig-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Two wounded after the fall of ammunition from a hunter in Russia. Moscow said one of its fighter jets lost ammunition over Belgorod, a Russian town near the Ukrainian border, on Thursday night. This fall caused an explosion which injured two people.

France and the United States are counting on China to settle the conflict. Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron spoke by telephone on Thursday. In a press release, the Elysée ensures that the two leaders “agreed on the importance of continuing to engage” China to contribute “in the medium term at the end of the conflict” in Ukraine. Paris thinks that Beijing has “a role to play” because of its alliance with Moscow.

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