what to remember from Friday March 8

Turkey said it was ready to host a Russia-Ukraine summit, while the Turkish president received Volodymyr Zelensky.

Turkey is ready to host a Russia-Ukraine summit, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday March 8, who received his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul. For his part, American President Joe Biden assured that he would not “would not bend” facing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, urging Congress to pass aid to Ukraine for “stop Putin” in his invasion. Franceinfo takes stock of the highlights of the day.

Turkey ready to host Russia-Ukraine summit, says Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey is ready to host a Russia-Ukraine summit, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who received his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in Istanbul. Erdogan reiterated his “support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of (her) strategic ally, Ukraine”. “While continuing our solidarity with Ukraine, we will continue to work to end the war and in favor of a just and negotiated peace”he insisted.

Regarding a new mechanism to guarantee the security of commercial transport in the Black Sea, the head of state confirmed his “intention (of) reach an agreement between the parties”saying he was ready to help.

Joe Biden urges Congress to help Ukraine

US President Joe Biden has assured that he will not “would not bend” facing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, urging Congress to pass aid to Ukraine for “stop Putin” in his invasion. In his State of the Union address to Congress, the Democratic president accused his predecessor and likely Republican opponent in November’s presidential election, Donald Trump, of “submit” to Vladimir Putin.

“I assure you that Putin will not stop at Ukraine. But Ukraine can stop Putin if we support it and provide it with the weapons it needs to defend itself”he assured, urging Congress to release aid to kyiv, frozen for months by partisan quarrels between Democrats and Republicans.

In Russia, two dead in a Ukrainian strike on a village in a border region

Two people were killed and another seriously injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a village in the Russian region of Belgorod, which borders Ukraine and is regularly hit by gunfire, the regional governor said.

“The outskirts of the village of Rozhdestvenska, in the Graivoron district, were attacked by the Ukrainian armed forces using three kamikaze drones. The explosions left two people dead and a third man was seriously injured”said Vyacheslav Gladkov on Telegram.

kyiv and Moscow say they have shot down dozens of enemy drones

Ukraine and Russia said they shot down dozens of drones overnight Thursday into Friday, as both sides launched nighttime attacks on targets behind front lines.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia fired 37 Iranian “Shahed” explosive drones and three missiles into Ukrainian territory overnight. “As a result of combat operations, 33 Shaheds were shot down” in the regions of Kirovograd (center), Odessa, Kherson, Mykolaiv (south) and Kharkiv (northeast), she wrote on Telegram. In the Kharkiv region, five people including a three-year-old child were injured in a strike, Governor Oleg Synegoubov announced on Telegram.

In Moscow, the Defense Ministry said it had intercepted 16 Ukrainian drones at dawn Friday. Fifteen of them were destroyed in the southern Volgograd region, the closest part of which is about 300 kilometers from the front lines in eastern Ukraine. Another drone was shot down over the Belgorod border region, according to the Russian ministry.