During a visit by the Secretary General of NATO, the Ukrainian President pleaded for his country’s accession to the Atlantic Alliance.
For the first time since the beginning of the conflict, the Secretary General of NATO has set foot in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, reiterated his call for his country’s entry into the Western military alliance. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of the day of April 20 on the war front.
NATO Secretary General makes a surprise visit to kyiv
This is the first trip of the NATO Secretary General to Ukraine since the start of the war. In images shared by the Kyiv Independent, Jens Stoltenberg can be seen meditating in St. Michael’s Square in kyiv, in front of a memorial in honor of Ukrainian soldiers killed in action. He promised that the question of Ukraine’s membership would be discussed at a summit in Vilnius (Lithuania) in July.
Zelensky pushes for NATO membership
On the occasion of the visit of the Secretary General of NATO, the Ukrainian President made a request. Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, April 20 that“he [était] time” that NATO welcomes Ukraine into its ranks. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Western military alliance has shown its support for Ukraine and its member states have provided Kiev with military equipment and weapons to fight the Russian army. Aid welcomed but still deemed insufficient by President Zelensky.
New tanks will be delivered to Ukraine
“The Netherlands and Denmark today announce their intention to acquire, refurbish and donate to Ukraine 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks following our successful collaboration with Germany for the delivery of at least 100 Leopard tanks 1A5″, assures the Danish Ministry of Defense in a press release. The tanks will be delivered “early 2024”.
The European Parliament calls for the release of Navalny and Kara-Mourza
The European Parliament strongly condemned the sentence “political” inflicted on the Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Mourza and demanded his release, as well as that of Alexeï Navalny, worrying about the “rapid deterioration” the state of health of the two men. The first, Vladimir Kara-Mourza, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Moscow court on Monday for several charges, including that of “high treason”. The second, Alexeï Navalny, already imprisoned, has been under new criminal charges since Tuesday.
Macron and Biden want to “continue to engage” China with a view to “ending the conflict”
Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden “agreed on the importance of continuing to engage” China to contribute “in the medium term at the end of the conflict” in Ukraine, the French presidency reported on Thursday. The French head of state, who spoke with his American counterpart on the telephone about his recent visit to China, also reaffirmed his desire to see the Europeans continue “to rearm to assume their responsibilities in transatlantic security burden sharing“, said the Elysée in a press release.