Friday, September 15, 2023
20:23
FRANCE-RUSSIA DIALOGUE
Can Catherine Colonna speak to Sergei Lavrov, the head of Russian diplomacy, at the United Nations General Assembly next week? “I talk to him sometimes,” the Foreign Minister replies to LCI. “The last time was in February, at a G20 summit. I often disagreed with him.”
20:21
“We will support Ukraine until the end”
“We will support Ukraine to the end out of loyalty to our values and because it is our interest,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said on LCI. “Ukraine is being attacked for no reason by a neighboring country that should be enforcing the United Nations Charter rather than violating it. The outcome of this war will largely determine security in Europe. By violating its obligations, Russia is undermining the foundations of international life.”
6:55 p.m
IMPORT OF UKRAINIAN GRAIN TO THE EU
The European Commission announces that it will lift the ban on imports of Ukrainian grain imposed by five EU states to protect their farmers. In return, Kiev undertakes to take measures to control the flow of grain to neighboring countries.
At the end of April, Brussels concluded an agreement with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania that allows them to block the marketing of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflowers on their soil, provided they do not hinder their transit to other countries. Since then, “market distortions” have “disappeared” in these countries, the Commission estimates in a press release.
18:51
A RUSSIAN GENERAL NEAR WAGNER IN ALGERIA
Russian General Sergei Surovikin, one of the emblematic commanders of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, was fired because of his ties to the Wagner Group and reappeared in Algeria during an official visit after a months-long absence.
In images posted on the Oran Grand Mosque’s Facebook account on Tuesday but appearing in Russian media this Friday, the person in question is seen in a beige civilian costume, alongside Russian officers in military uniform and the imam of that mosque, Abou Abdallah see Zebar.
6:30 p.m
ZELENSKY IN THE USA NEXT WEEK
The Ukrainian president will meet Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, September 21, at a time when the American Congress is debating a new envelope of $24 billion for Kiev, a source close to it told AFP. This visit to Washington is planned on the occasion of the Ukrainian leader’s trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
According to several American media outlets, Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to go to the American Congress, where elected officials have been negotiating for several weeks over possible new military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
16:14
The Kiev and Lviv locations “in danger”
St. Sophia Cathedral and monastic buildings in Kiev are on the UNESCO World Heritage List and, like the historic center of Lviv in the west of the country, are in danger due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
12:01
RUSSIA HAS “NEVER REFUSED TO NEGOTIATE” WITH UKRAINE, ACCORDING TO PUTIN
At a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko in Sochi, Vladimir Putin said he “never refused” negotiations with Ukraine after its army entered the country in February 2022, “the leader said, quoted by Russian media. “I’m talking, but we don’t hear anything from the other side.”
11:51
“NO AGREEMENT” BETWEEN RUSSIA AND NORTH KOREA AFTER THE MEETING OF KIM JONG UN AND PUTIN
“No agreement was signed and it was not planned,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday after the meeting between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia. The US suspects Russia of wanting to buy weapons from Pyongyang for the conflict in Ukraine, while North Korea is suspected of wanting to acquire technology for its nuclear and missile programs.
10:29
Fewer ships were delivered to Russia in 2023 than announced
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced this morning that two ships have already been delivered to Russia this year and twelve more ships are expected to arrive by the end of December. That’s half as much as expected: Vladimir Putin promised in July to deliver thirty boats by the end of 2023. There was no explanation for this reduced delivery target.
09:43
International
Posted today at 9:42 am.
08:45
13 YEARS IN PRISON FOR A RUSSIAN deserter soldier
A Russian court has sentenced a soldier accused of deserting his military unit to escape fighting in Ukraine amid an armed conflict with Kiev to 13 years in a “hard regime” penal colony. In a statement released on Friday, a military court in Russia’s Far East region said the defendant was found guilty of aggravated desertion because he was “during a period of military mobilization.”
According to this source, Maxime Kotchetkov, the soldier in question, did not report to his unit on May 10 “in order not to fulfill his military obligations” “in order to avoid being sent to the zone of special military operations (in Ukraine.”) “ and “indulging in idleness”.
07:24
A liberated village not far from Bakhmout?
The Ukrainian army says it has liberated the village of Andriivka near Bakhmut on the Eastern Front from the Russian occupiers. Yesterday, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, confirmed that the hamlet had been taken over by Kiev. “Andriivka is ours,” she rejoiced in the Telegram, before being contradicted by other military officers.
“The defense forces had partial success in offensive operations in the Klitschivka area. During their attack, they liberated Andriyivka in the Donetsk region (and inflicted significant losses on the enemy in personnel and equipment,” the Ukrainian general told staff this time in their daily report published on Facebook.
07:17
KIM JONG-UN VISITS AEROSPACE FACTORY IN RUSSIA
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un visited an aviation factory in the Russian Far East this morning, where he arrived on Wednesday, specifically to meet President Vladimir Putin. The two heads of state hope to bring their countries closer together in connection with the war in Ukraine and, in particular, to establish military ties. “Kim Jong Un arrived by train at Komsomolsk-on-Amur station,” Russian state news agency TASS said after arriving at the North Korean dictator’s factory.