French President Emmanuel Macron and his German and Italian counterparts are expected in Kyiv on Thursday. The Elysée has confirmed that the three men left on the night train. You should be there in the morning. You should say Europe’s support for Ukraine at war after the United States announced billions of dollars in military aid. Without confirming this trip, Emmanuel Macron, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union, sent signals to Kyiv on Wednesday and visited a NATO base in Romania.
For his part, the American President announced additional military aid to Ukraine worth $1 billion, Washington called on its allies to “intensify” arms supplies to Kyiv, which is in trouble against the Russians in the Donbass, and he did Chinese President Xi Jinping has shown his support for his “old friend” Vladimir Putin. “Ukraine is facing a crucial moment on the battlefield,” said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin during a meeting of the countries of the “Contact Group” created by the United States in support of Ukraine at NATO headquarters in Brussels. While for several days fighting has focused on Lysychantsk and Severodonetsk, two key cities in Donbass.
What to remember
> Macron, Scholz and Draghi in Ukraine deliver “a message of hope”
> The United States will give Ukraine a new $1 billion in military aid
> The Russian offensive is concentrated on Severodonetsk and Bachmout
>> The most important news for this Thursday, June 16th:
09:48 – Air alert in Kyiv after arrival of European leaders
The arrival of Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz and Mario Draghi in the capital of the air was followed by an air raid alert in the capital and over much of Ukraine.
🚨BREAKING: Air alert over Kyiv and most of 🇺🇦 Ukraine.
Someone in Moscow is not happy about the visit of Scholz, Macron and Draghi. pic.twitter.com/bFKLowfaYH
— Emmanuelle Chaze (@EmmanuelleChaze) June 16, 2022
09:33 – French companies have not left Russia
While the heads of the CAC 40 are leaving “Russian Davos” in Saint Petersburg, some of the French companies well established in Russia remain present. But her future is in the stars.
09:26 – Olaf Scholz promises to help Ukraine ‘as long as it lasts’
During this visit to Kyiv with Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi, “not only do we want to show our solidarity, we also want to make sure that the aid we organize: financial, humanitarian but also in terms of arms, continues,” he said Olaf Scholz in an interview with the daily newspaper “Bild”. “We will continue it as long as it takes for Ukraine’s struggle for independence,” he added.
9:09 a.m. – Emmanuel Macron wants to deliver “a message of European unity” in Kyiv
“We are present, focused and we will find President Zelenskyy, both to go to a theater of war where massacres were committed and to be able to conduct the planned interviews with President Zelenskyy,” said the President of the Republic. Emmanuel Macron wanted to “send a message of support to talk about both the present and the future because the coming weeks will be very difficult”.
8.46 a.m. – Macron’s trip to Kyiv at the heart of the parliamentary elections is a “staging”, his opponents denounce
“No one is fooled that it’s three days after the second round,” scoffed Alexis Corbière, while Christian Jacob denounced “a staging”. For Marine Le Pen, Emmanuel Macron uses “the attitude of a warlord” to influence the elections.
8:37 a.m. – Macron, Scholz and Draghi have arrived in Kyiv
The three leaders left Romania by night train and arrived in the Ukrainian capital. The Elysée states that this visit must make it possible “to strike a balance between Ukraine’s natural aspiration for the European Union (…) and the fact that we must neither destabilize nor break up the European Union”.
After the train departed, the three men found themselves in the lounge area of Emmanuel Macron’s carriage to delay their talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to journalists on board.
08:30 – Almost 10,000 civilians are still in Severodonetsk
About 10,000 civilians are still in the city of Severodonetsk, a key Donbass city that the Russians have been trying to capture for weeks, Sergei Gaidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said by telegram on Thursday.
Kyiv claimed a few days ago that around 500 civilians took refuge in the Azot chemical plant. Moscow put forward a higher figure.
08:15 – Kyiv says almost 33,000 Russian soldiers are dead
According to the latest report by the Ukrainian General Staff, published Thursday morning, the Russian army has lost 32,950 soldiers since the war began. According to this, 200 soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours.
In addition, the Russian army would also have lost 1,449 tanks, 213 aircraft and 179 helicopters. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Moscow would have suffered the greatest losses in the Bachmout region.
07:30 – for Moscow, western companies were not expelled
In an interview with Les Echos, Denis Mantourov, Russia’s industry and trade minister who orchestrated the takeover of AvtoVAZ, the car giant sold by Renault, said he was “surprised and regretted by the departure” of the French manufacturer. And recalls that “under the signed agreement, Renault retains the possibility of returning within six years”.
Asked about the fate of Schneider Electric, Lafarge or Alstom, he stated that “negotiations are ongoing” but “there is no agreement yet”.
07:15 – The sale of 4 corvettes to Romania on track
The French defense concern hopes to quickly conclude the contract for the sale of 4 Gowind corvettes to Romania. President Macron’s visit was an opportunity to confirm naval cooperation between the two countries.
On the fringes of President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Romania, the new Armed Forces Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, signed a memorandum of understanding with his Romanian counterpart Vasile Dincu to reaffirm the two countries’ willingness to cooperate in the naval field.
07:10 – 116,000 houses destroyed or damaged since the beginning of the war
According to an estimate by Kyiv, 3.5 million Ukrainians have had their homes destroyed or damaged since the start of the war. As of June 1, as many as 116,000 apartments (buildings and individual houses) were in this case, according to Svetlana Startseva, deputy director of the Ukrainian Department of Housing Policy, quoted by the Ukrinform press agency.
Of these, 30,000 buildings and 27,300 single-family homes have to be completely rebuilt. For the time being, Kyiv has not yet assumed any costs related to this destruction.
06:45 – Macron, Draghi and Scholz have arrived in Ukraine
The three European heads of state and government took the overnight train to Kyiv from Wednesday to Thursday. A visit the day after a NATO summit and the announcement of new American aid.
The three men are to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union, in addition to military support. France, Germany and Italy are in favour, but from a more or less distant perspective. Ukraine is no less awaiting the decision of the 27 on its official application for membership at the European summit on June 23-24, the start of a negotiation process that may last several years.
06:15 – The Russian offensive is concentrated on Severodonetsk and towards Bakhmout
“The invader is still trying to capture Severodonetsk and is also concentrating on the Bakhmout direction,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in its daily update on Facebook this Thursday morning. In particular, he mentions several artillery attacks in the area of this city, located less than a hundred kilometers southwest of Severodonetsk.
According to a commander of the Ukrainian National Guard, Russian forces are also strengthening their positions north of the city of Kharkiv. “New battalions are coming to reinforce those already in place,” he explained on Telegram.
3:45 a.m. – Moscow wants to continue discussing the nuclear weapons agreement with Washington
Russia and the US must talk about extending the bilateral START nuclear arms limitation treaty, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the RIA news agency on Thursday. “This issue is important for global security and Russia’s military presence in Ukraine is no reason to avoid discussing it,” added Dmitry Peskov.
00:40 – The food crisis will increase the number of displaced people, according to the UN
A report released Thursday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) shows that by the end of 2021, around 89.3 million people had been displaced worldwide due to persecution, conflict, abuse and violence.
Millions more have since fled Ukraine or been internally displaced, with rising prices linked to the grain export blockade expected to fuel further displacement elsewhere in the world. “If you have a food crisis on top of everything I’ve outlined — war, human rights, climate — it will only accelerate the trends I’ve outlined in this report,” Filippo said. Counting.
>> Highlights of the night
>A special donor conference will be held in August
“The UK and Denmark have announced a special donors’ conference in Copenhagen for August. Fourteen states were already involved,” the Ukrainian President explained in his daily video intervention.
> Biden announces new tranche of military aid to Ukraine
Joe Biden announced a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine, which includes additional artillery pieces and shells and anti-ship missiles totaling $1 billion. In a statement, the US President said he reiterated US support for Ukraine during a phone interview with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
>Moscow accuses Kyiv of preventing the evacuation of civilians in Severodonetsk
“The Russian side has provided a humanitarian corridor to allow the evacuation of civilians from the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk. Despite all these measures (…) the Kiev authorities cynically thwarted the humanitarian operation,” the Russian Defense Ministry accused in a press release.