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11:34 a.m .: The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken assured that Vladimir Putin had suffered “a strategic failure”. “This is thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian people, but also to the strength and unity of allies and partners around the world who have come to support Ukraine,” he added.
11:31 a.m .: The United States has denounced Vladimir Putin’s speech, which accuses the West of wanting to end Russia. “No one is attacking Russia. It’s kind of absurd to imagine that Russia is under any form of military threat from Ukraine or anyone else,” the adviser told White House national security officer Jake Sullivan.
11:19 am: Good morning @Tony. Vladimir Putin files charges against Russian businessmen who invest abroad, where they will always remain “second-class citizens”. It promotes a form of economic patriotism to help the national economy prosper. “Entrepreneurs must side with their country and work for their countrymen.” Previously, he called for the punishment of “traitors” in the country.
11:17 a.m .: What does Vladimir Putin say in his speech now?
11:09 am: Good morning @Nat65. US President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak from the Royal Castle in Warsaw (Poland) at around 5:30 p.m. Today he is meeting with Polish President Andrez Duda and various leaders of the country. In his speech, the US President will “make it clear that the United States will support Ukraine (…) for as long as it takes,” said National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
11:08 am: Hello, what time is Joe Biden’s speech in Warsaw please?
11:01 am: Good morning @grumpy. That 2.1% drop was announced yesterday (in Russian) by the country’s statistics agency, Rosstat. At the end of January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected “a more moderate than expected economic contraction in Russia in 2022”, estimated at 2.2%. According to IMF estimates, “slightly positive growth should follow in 2023” (0.3%).
10:55: Hello, Russia’s GDP just down 2.1%? I can not believe it.
11:09 a.m .: The Kremlin has ensured that it follows the US President’s visit to Ukraine and Poland “with attention”, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview with the Russian public broadcaster Pervy Kanal. According to the spokesman, however, this move will have no impact on Russian politics.
10.46 a.m .: Vladimir Putin insists on the fate reserved for the citizens of the country. International sanctions are designed to inflict “suffering” on the Russians. The president hails Russia’s “resilience” and says the country’s economy is strong as GDP has contracted 2.1% this year when “we were told 20-25%”.
11:00 am The only announcement concerns domestic issues with the establishment of a special state fund to support war veterans in Ukraine and their families. So this discourse seems to be aimed primarily at Russian public opinion, less at international actors. The Russian President wants to justify once again why he is sending so many young Russians to the front. And convince their relatives.
10:42: Vladimir Putin is content to rehash his usual themes: comparing Kiev to a Nazi regime, blaming a fantasized collective West, justifying an invasion by “Russia’s survival”, calling for patriotism, defending traditional values, elevating the army… The Russian President asked the audience to observe a minute’s silence to commemorate the Russian soldiers who died in Ukraine during the war.
10.59 a.m .: “We risk a new Iron Curtain in Europe.”
The Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, a guest at France Inter this morning, feared a martial speech by Vladimir Putin. According to him, the Russian President “denies the mere existence of the Ukrainian nation”. Vladimir Putin “really needs to create this feeling that Russia is defending itself and being attacked by everyone”.
10:24 a.m.: “The Kiev regime does not serve the interests of the Ukrainian people, but those of the West. The more the West supplies long-range systems to Ukraine, the more we will be forced to intervene to prevent the threat to our country, it is inevitable.”
10:29 am: Good morning @Jeanne. Not always. Vladimir Putin invokes a “special operation,” a phrase uttered several times since the speech began. In accusatory reversal, he states that Ukrainian aggression is aimed at “protecting Russia and eliminating the Nazi threat”. And that the “survival” of the country is at stake, nothing new and no announcement yet.
10:22 am: Hello Franceinfo. Is Vladimir Putin saying “war” or still not?
10:21 a.m.: “We are not at war against the people of Ukraine, they are hostage to the western owners who occupy this country.”
10:20 am: Vladimir Putin believes that it was Ukraine that started this war. “We stopped him by force, he adds. Donbass has been fighting for the right to live on their land since 2014, Russia had to help them.”
10:17 a.m.: “The situation is very difficult for the country,” explains Vladimir Putin, recalling “events that will determine the future of our fatherland.” The Russian President begins his speech by recalling his vision on Donbass and affirming that Russia has done everything to find a “peaceful” solution. Unsurprisingly, he then makes another indictment against the collective West, whose dominance he denounces in the world. And again uses the term “Nazi regime” to qualify Kiev.
10:13 a.m.: “We were open to an open dialogue, but we always received hypocritical answers,” regrets Vladimir Putin, who refers directly to the United States by criticizing the presence of American bases around the world.
10:11 a.m .: “We have done everything to provide military support for the actions in Donbass,” assures the Russian President.
10.09 a.m .: After almost a year of conflict in Ukraine, the Russian President assures that his country will “reach [ses] Goals”.
10.09 a.m .: Vladimir Putin arrives at the Duma tribune. He begins his speech. Follow him live.
10:08 a.m .: Vladimir Putin begins his speech to the Federal Assembly. His speech will last about an hour, according to his spokesman. In the front row the President of the Council of the Federation Valentina Matvienko, Prime Minister Mikhail Michoutsine, President of the Duma Viatcheslav Volodin, former President Dmitry Medvedev or even Patriarch Kirill.
(RIA NOVOSTI)
10.08am: “I managed to get hold of her and I insisted on dissuading her.
The sports minister personally advised French boxer Estelle Mossely not to train in Russia, she explains in L’Equipe. The boxer had received approval from the French federation to go to Moscow to prepare for the World Amateur Championships, which will be held in New Delhi, India, next month.
10:10 a.m.: A year ago, on February 21, 2022, Vladimir Putin announced his decision to recognize the independence of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions. On the same day, the Russian president signed two decrees ordering the Russian army to perform “peacekeeping functions” in the two self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
9.43 a.m .: Vladimir Putin’s speech is particularly expected in Russia, the major television stations have been posting a count since yesterday. The speech will also be broadcast on large screens installed in several major cities, the Tass agency said. Eventually, posters appeared in Moscow with the date February 21 and these messages: “The borders of Russia stop nowhere” or even: “Look and listen”.
09:56: Even if it is extremely difficult to make predictions about the content of the speech, among the hypotheses on the table, Vladimir Putin could announce a new military reinforcement, which the mobilization of 300,000 men in September had led to the flight of about 700,000 Russians .
9:25 a.m .: Vladimir Putin has not spoken before the Duma since April 21, 2021, the Russian newspaper Kommersant specifies. These speeches traditionally take place every year, even if the periodicity is not enshrined in the law. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that this event was canceled last year because of the “very high dynamics of events”.
9:23 am: Vladimir Putin will deliver his message to the Duma in forty minutes from the “Merchants’ Courtyard” (Gostiny Dvor), a historic building two cables from the Kremlin. This speech will focus in particular on the invasion of Ukraine and will be given to an audience of handpicked guests, including parliamentarians and various officials. Denis Pushilin, leader of the Donetsk separatist region, has already arrived.
(KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
8:24 a.m.: The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) accuses the Russian army of a “war crime” in the April 2022 rocket attack on the Kramatorsk train station in eastern Ukraine, which killed around 60 civilians fleeing the region . The NGO adds that it identified the then-Russian-controlled village of Kounié in the Kharkiv region as a “possible site for the attack.”
8:09 a.m.: In Romania, a home takes in around forty Ukrainian children who were robbed of their parents. Supported by local authorities and Unicef, this center has become their new home. Over the months, these children have found their way around. “They are better now,” director Andreea Corodescu tells franceinfo, but a psychologist works with them every day. They have retained the trauma of war but also those linked to their families.”
7:50 a.m.: The Truth Hounds association has investigated the attack on an administrative building in Mykolayiv, which it attributes directly to the Russian army. But it could be years before the file on this “gruesome war crime” lands on a judge’s desk.
(ASTRID AMADIEU / FRANCEINFO)
08:34: On September 22, 2006, former President Jacques Chirac awarded Vladimir Putin the Legion of Honor to celebrate the “friendship” between France and Russia. Today, with the war in Ukraine, the context has changed so that today the question arises about the withdrawal of this award.
(VLADIMIR RODIONOV / ITAR-TASS / AFP)
7.06am: Le Figaro and Liberation return for Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Kiev. Le Monde takes stock of this first year of conflict. Note that liberation also occupies a large place in the death of Harlock’s father, Leiji Matsumoto.
07:56: “We will continue to promote peace dialogue (…) and work with the international community to promote dialogue and consultations, address the concerns of all parties and strive for common security.”
China, which the US has accused of wanting to supply arms to Russia, is “very concerned” about the conflict in Ukraine, which “is escalating and even spiraling out of control,” the Chinese foreign minister said on Tuesday. , Qin Gang.
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