The US general doubts Kiev’s victory this year
Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Ukraine is unlikely to be able to expel all Russian troops from the occupied territories this year. “It’s an important military task,” the general told Defense One.
A Ukrainian counter-offensive in the spring?
How can the Ukrainian army expel the Kremlin forces from the territories they occupy? That’s the question AP agency asked this morning. “Now Kyiv can take advantage of improved weather conditions to take the initiative on the battlefield with new batches of Western weapons, including dozens of tanks, and new Western-trained troops,” notes the Associated Press.
“But the Russian armed forces are deeply buried, searching behind minefields and along kilometers (miles) of trenches,” specifies the American agency.
A failed Russian winter offensive
Eighty days after the start of the Russian winter offensive, for the British Ministry of Defense “it is becoming increasingly clear that this project has failed”. “On several axes along the Donbass front, Russian forces made only marginal gains at the cost of tens of thousands of casualties and largely squandered their temporary manpower advantage gained through the ‘autumn’ ‘partial mobilization’,” he said in a published article Note on Twitter.
The new Russian doctrine would not be to China’s liking
In a more than 40-page document presented yesterday, Russia presents itself as the bulwark of the Russian-speaking world against Westerners, accused of wanting to “weaken it by any means”.
However, Putin’s suggestion of forming an anti-Western bloc during Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow was not well received, according to the Institute for War Research (ISW). The Chinese leader reportedly refused to drag China into Putin’s geopolitical row with the West.
The IMF approves a $15.6 billion bailout for Ukraine
The Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday endorsed the $15.6 billion bailout plan signed with the Ukrainian government on March 21, paving the way for the disbursement of an initial $2.7 billion tranche.
The four-year plan is intended to make it possible “to support a gradual economic recovery while creating the conditions for long-term growth in the context of post-conflict reconstruction and on the way to joining the ‘European Union’ (EU),” the IMF recalled in a press release .
Zelenskyy: Boucha must become a “symbol of justice”.
The Ukrainian martyr city of Butcha, a symbol of atrocities attributed to the Russian army, must become “a symbol of justice,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday, demanding that “any Russian killer” be brought to justice for “genocidal violence.” .
AFP/Sergei SUPINSKY.
On the occasion of the first anniversary of the recapture of this place by Kiev forces, he vowed to defeat “Russian evil” during a trip to this city on the outskirts of Kiev with the Croatian prime ministers, the Slovak and Slovenian ones as well as the President of Moldova.
Medvedev welcomes Wimbledon decision, Kvitova regrets it
Under pressure from the ATP and WTA, the organizers of the London tournament announced on Friday that despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, they would accept the participation of Russians and Belarusians this year “on conditions”, thus applying the policy of other events. Barely qualified for the final in Miami, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev was delighted to hear the news. “I’ve always said that if I could play at Wimbledon I would be very happy to be there,” said the world No. 5.
However, Czech Petra Kvitova, doubles winner of Wimbledon, opposed this decision. “I think (Russians and Belarusians) shouldn’t be allowed to play there. They shouldn’t be allowed into the Olympics either. So I’m a bit on the Ukrainian side in this case,” she said shortly after qualifying for the Miami final.
Moscow “allowed, even encouraged,” war crimes, says Macron
“Russian aggression has led to a systematization of war crimes against Ukraine and its people,” he said in a video message shown during a summit in Kyiv on the crimes of Boutcha to mark the first anniversary of that place’s recapture by Ukrainian armed forces from Kiev.
“And far from sanctioning these crimes, which violate all the laws of war, the Russian leadership has allowed them, even encouraged them, in defiance of international law and with the clear aim of subjugating the Ukrainian nation by force,” he added .
Russia at the helm of the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council
Starting today, Russia will assume the rotating presidency of the executive body of the United Nations for a period of one month. The head of Russia’s diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, will chair a session of the UN Security Council in New York this month.
If the event has been planned and announced, it has a special resonance in connection with the war in Ukraine. Kiev called this Russian presidency a “bad joke” on Thursday. “Russia has usurped its place; it wages a colonial war; its president is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba castigated.