After repeated requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the creation of an “international coalition” was mentioned on Tuesday by the United Kingdom.
This is a repeated request from kyiv. London and Amsterdam declared, Tuesday, May 16, to want to set up a “international alliance” to help Ukraine get F-16 fighter jets. This speech comes after a meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of the day on the war front.
Towards an “international coalition” to deliver F-16 planes to kyiv
The United Kingdom and the Netherlands want to build a “international alliance” to help Ukraine obtain F-16 fighter jets, Downing Street said on Tuesday following a meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte.
>> War in Ukraine: training fighter pilots without delivering planes to kyiv, the delicate positioning of Western countries
Volodymyr Zelensky has been asking his Western allies for months to also provide him with planes that would allow the Ukrainian army to strike Russian troops in depth, without however constituting a miracle solution in the conflict. On Monday in London, he repeated that he wanted the establishment “of a coalition for aircraft” and said to himself “very optimistic about it”.
European states create an international register to identify the damage caused by the Russians
The Council of Europe created on Tuesday a “international register of damage caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”, announced Emmanuel Macron at the opening of a summit in Iceland. “The Council is once again showing the way alongside the victims of the aggression”, he said, calling “all States to adhere to it and to contribute actively to its elaboration”.
For German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the creation of this register will play “a central role” For “punish and demand accountability for war crimes committed by the Russian occupiers” And “the enormous damage that Russia inflicts on Ukraine day after day”.
The United States denounces the arrest of a former employee of its consulate in Russia
Washington denounced the arrest in Russia of a former employee of their consulate accused of “confidential cooperation” with a foreign organization, which Washington denies. Robert Chonov, a Russian citizen who worked for more than 25 years for the American consulate in Vladivostok, at the southeastern end of Russia, was arrested on Monday by Russian authorities. IHe faces between three and eight years in prison.
kyiv claims to have shot down six Kinjal missiles, Moscow denies
Russia has denied kyiv’s claims about the downed missiles. “Russia hasn’t thrown as many ‘Kinjal’ as [les Ukrainiens] say they have slaughtered”Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told the Ria Novosti news agency. “The number of these [soi-disant] ‘Ukrainian interceptions’ is three times what we shoot”he added in comments relayed by his press service on Telegram.
Earlier in the day, Kiev said it had shot down six Kinjal hypersonic missiles that were very difficult to intercept, a major feat as long-range Russian strikes intensified again.
Emmanuel Macron wants a hundred “mental health centers” in Ukraine
During the summit in Iceland, the Head of State Emmanuel Macron proposed the construction of a hundred mental health centers in Ukraine, financed by money from a Council of Europe bank endowed with more than one billion euros, according to the Elysée. Europe seeks to show that it is united to remain at the side of kyiv, whatever the outcome of the Ukrainian counter-offensive in preparation, which promises to be difficult against the fortified Russian positions.