Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone, while the Pentagon pledged new military aid of $775 million to kyiv, and Russian strikes claimed new victims in Kharkiv and Donetsk province. Franceinfo returns to the highlights of Friday August 19 on the front of the war in Ukraine.
Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin call for an inspection of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant “as soon as possible”
Whereas Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of hitting Ukraine’s Zaporizhia nuclear power plantthe Russian president estimated on Friday 19 August that “the systematic bombardment of this site, occupied by the Russian army, “creates a danger of large-scale catastrophe which could lead to the radioactive contamination of vast territories”. During a telephone conversation with Emmanuel Macron, the two heads of state called to organize “a.s.a.p” a visit to the plant by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reports the Kremlin.
The Elysée, for its part, assured that Vladimir Putin accepted that the IAEA mission pass “by Ukraine under government control”, not by Russia or the Ukrainian territories it occupies. Sending IAEA experts will also require “ceasefire”, “at least the time of the mission”noted the Elysée.
Washington announces new military aid of $775 million for kyiv
This new aid will notably include additional missiles for US Himars precision artillery systems, according to a senior US Department of Defense official. These missile launchers allow kyiv to bomb targets several tens of kilometers away inside Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia. It will also include mobile gun systems and additional shells, as well as drones.
For the first time, it will also include anti-mine armored personnel carriers, “a good example of the needs of the Ukrainians to advance their troops and regain territory”, said the American spokesperson. Another novelty are Harm anti-radar air-to-ground missiles that the Ukrainians have managed to adapt to their Russian-made Mig bombers: cThis is the first time the United States has revealed delivery of these supersonic missiles, designed to find and destroy enemy air defense systems.
The American official finally insisted on the “total lack of progress of the Russians on the battlefield” those last weeks. “We have not seen any recovery of territory” by the Ukrainian forces, she acknowledged, “but we see a clear weakening of Russian positions in several places”.
Emmanuel Macron calls on the French to agree to “pay the price of freedom”
During a speech in Bormes-les-Mimosas (Var), Emmanuel Macron denounced “brutal attack” of Vladimir Putin against Ukraine and hailed the “heroic resistance” of the Ukrainian people in the face of “terrible assaults by the Russian army and its auxiliaries”. In “this war that thunders at our doors”the Head of State affirms that“it will take strength of soul to face the coming time, resist uncertainties, sometimes ease and adversity and, united, agree to pay the price for our freedom and our values”.
The Nord Stream gas pipeline will be closed for “maintenance” from August 31 to September 2
“On August 31, 2022, the sole Trent 60 gas compression unit will be shut down for three days for maintenance” which will be attended by technicians from Siemens, Gazprom said in a statement. Gas deliveries to Europe will therefore be suspended over the period, according to the Russian gas giant, which explains that“it is necessary to carry out maintenance every 1000 hours”.
At the end of this period and “in the absence of technical malfunctions”, deliveries will resume with a flow of 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, the company said. The announcement caused a further rise in the price of European gas: the price of the Dutch TTF futures contract rose to 257.40 euros at the end of the session, an absolute record. A stoppage of deliveries during a 10-day maintenance in July had already raised concerns among European countries, who accuse Moscow of using gas as a “war weapon”.
Shelling in Donetsk and Kharkiv regions kills at least six
In eastern Ukraine, fighting continues in the Donbass, Moscow’s priority strategic objective. Five deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours in Donetsk province alone, according to Ukrainian authorities. In the northeast of the country, shelling hit Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, and left at least one dead, according to local authorities. At least 12 other people had died in the same way in the region in the past two days, they said.