On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West of a “real danger” of nuclear war if the conflict in Ukraine escalates. Washington denounced “irresponsible rhetoric” and France called the Kremlin leader “not in crisis.” “Don’t play the escalation game.” Follow the latest information.
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Volodymyr Zelensky, the former comedian turned warlord
07:45
KAMIKAZE DRONES
The French Ministry of Defense will order 2,000 French-design remote-controlled munitions (MTO) in the coming weeks, with the first 100 to be delivered to Ukraine by the summer, Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on Thursday.
“I have taken the decision to order 2,000 remote-controlled munitions, both for the needs of the French army and for Ukraine,” said the minister during a visit to the factory of the Delair drone manufacturer in Labège, a suburb of Toulouse ( South France). West). “Kamikaze drones are critical to conducting operations” and could provide an “artillery complement to the Caesar cannon,” he argued.
07:43
BLACK SEA
Russian diplomatic chief Sergei Lavrov is expected in Turkey, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to restart an initiative to secure shipping traffic in the Black Sea.
The Russian Foreign Minister is scheduled to attend the Diplomatic Forum in Antalya (South), an annual meeting of Turkish diplomacy with friendly countries, for two days: he is scheduled to meet his counterpart Hakan Fidan there and is expected to meet the Turkish head of state, as during his visits to Ankara . Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Turkey has been careful to maintain relations with the two parties to the conflict.
07:42
Hello and welcome to this live broadcast dedicated to Ukraine. Current information on the conflict with Russia can be found here.
Vladimir Putin on Thursday, February 29, warned Westerners of a “real threat” of nuclear war if the conflict in Ukraine escalates in his address to the nation, an annual high mass at which he defined Russia's state priorities. This new stance on nuclear power was described by Washington as “irresponsible rhetoric.” France, in turn, called on the Kremlin ruler “not to escalate”.
For his part, Emmanuel Macron reiterated that his every word on Ukraine had been “weighed” and “measured” after his comments on the possible deployment of ground troops to the country, which earned him a dismissal from his key allies and a scathing response from Vladimir Putin.
French diplomacy also estimated that Russia was “very likely” behind the “destabilization attempts” in Moldova, where pro-Russian separatists from the Transnistria region have asked Moscow for help.
On the ground, the Ukrainian air force claimed to have shot down three Russian fighter-bombers on Thursday, bringing to 13 the number of Russian military aircraft Kiev says it has destroyed in two weeks.
The Russian army, in turn, said it repelled the landing of a special forces commando from Kiev in occupied southern Ukraine and claimed to have killed “up to 25 soldiers” and captured another soldier, which Ukraine partially confirmed.
The editorial team of TF1info