Paris will announce “new funding” in Ukraine at an international conference to be held next week in London, the Foreign Minister announced on Wednesday.
France will announce “new funding for the reconstruction of civil infrastructure” in Ukraine at an international conference to be held next week in London, announced on Wednesday 14 June the Minister of Foreign Affairs, while Russian missile strikes continue in Odessa on the shores of the Black Sea, at a time when kyiv claims slight advances in its counter-offensive in the east. Franceinfo looks back on the highlights of the day.
France plans new financial aid to Kyiv
“I will participate on June 21, in London, in an international conference on reconstruction and I will announce, among other things, new funding for the reconstruction of critical civilian infrastructures, those which are attacked day after day by Russia”said Catherine Colonna during questions before the Senate, without however revealing the extent of this funding.
“It’s not too early to take care of the aftermath”, she added. “That’s what we’ve been doing for months now.”, she pointed out. The Minister recalled that France was the first country of the G7 group to appoint “a special envoy” dedicated to this topic. “Pierre Heilbronn works in conjunction with Ukrainians to identify priority needs and with international donors to build funding and put in place concrete measures for French companies wishing to engage in Ukraine”, she clarified.
Six dead in Russian strikes in Odessa and the East
Six people died and 19 were injured on Wednesday in Russian missile strikes in Ukraine, including in Odessa on the Black Sea coast. In Odessa, three people were killed and 13 were injured in a Kalibr cruise missile strike which notably hit a commercial warehouse, Serguii Bratchouk, spokesman for the military administration of this large southern city, said on Telegram. from the country.
Seven other employees were injured and “there could be people under the rubble”, Odessa Mayor Gennadiy Troukhanov said in a statement. The attack destroyed 1,000 m2 of warehouses and caused a fire on 400 m2, according to Serguiï Bratchouk. In addition to warehouse workers, six people were injured in other places in Odessa, where a business center, educational institution, residential complex, restaurants and shops were damaged.
Odessa, once a popular holiday destination for many Ukrainians and Russians, has been bombed several times since the start of the Russian invasion. Its historic center was inscribed in January on the list of World Heritage in Danger by Unesco.
The ICRC managed to see 1,500 prisoners of war held by Russians or Ukrainians
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it was able to visit 1 500 prisoners of war held on both sides since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Very discreet about its missions for the sake of efficiency, the organization does not specify the number of prisoners it has visited. Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly criticized him for not doing enough to gain access to soldiers held by the Russians. Visiting prisoners of war is at the heart of the ICRC’s mission and is enshrined in the Geneva Conventions, which define the laws of war.
ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric stressed last week in Geneva that the ICRC considers “access to prisoners of war on both sides” as an essential element of its mandate and it believes that there is progress. “For the prisoners of war and their families who have been able to share news, the impact is… immeasurable”, said Ariane Bauer, regional director of the ICRC for Europe and Central Asia, during a press briefing. The ICRC and its partners have so far transmitted around 2,500 personal messages between prisoners of war and their families and have helped to provide around 5,500 families with information on the fate of their loved ones in the conflict.
NATO must support the Ukrainian counter-offensive, pleads its secretary general
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg pleaded for increased military support from the Alliance to Ukrainian forces to enable them to continue their counter-offensive against Russia despite the losses suffered. “The most obvious thing to do is to make sure they have weapons and supplies to continue on the offensive.”said Jens Stoltenberg. “Minister (Oleksiy) Reznikov and Ukrainian military commanders will inform of urgent needs” against Russian troops, he explained, returning from Washington.
Arms supplies and the replenishment of the ammunition stocks of the Alliance countries will be at the heart of the discussions of the Ministers of Defense with their Ukrainian counterpart on Thursday for their last meeting before the summit of the Alliance in a month in Vilnius.