War in Ukraine Kyiv suspended from NATO arms shipments and

War in Ukraine: Kyiv suspended from NATO arms shipments and possible Macron visit

Did you miss the latest events on tensions in Ukraine? Don’t panic, 20 minutes takes stock every evening at 7:30 p.m.: Who did what? Who says what? Where are we ? The answer below:

news of the day

Emmanuel Macron was in Romania on Wednesday and remains silent about a possible visit to Kyiv while Ukraine battles Russian aggression in Donbass. The French President, however, felt that “new talks” with Kyiv were necessary.

After the wave of criticism and incomprehension, especially in Kyiv, triggered by his calls not to humiliate Russia, Emmanuel Macron also recalled the “clarity” of France’s position of support for Ukraine, “without complacency” towards Moscow. “But we want to create peace,” he emphasized.

phrase of the day

“It is important to stay in Donbass. »

Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged his compatriots to “hold out” in Donbass, a region he considers “vital” and on which the continuation of the war started by Moscow will depend. “Defending the region is crucial to provide an indication of who will dominate in the coming weeks,” the Ukrainian president assured in his daily address to the nation.

The number of the day

540 to 560. That’s how many people have taken refuge in the underground passages of the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, according to city chief Oleksandr Striouk. This situation is reminiscent of that of the Azovstal Steel Plant, which for weeks was the last nest of Ukrainian resistance in the port of Mariupol on the Sea of ​​Azov.

The trend of the day

The Russian army claimed to have destroyed a cache of weapons supplied by NATO, specifically M777 155mm howitzers, near Lviv in western Ukraine on Wednesday. Kyiv is urging its western allies to speed up arms supplies, while the fighting in Donbass is particularly fierce. According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Kyiv has received only “about 10% of the weapons requested by its Western partners.”

“We have taken the measure of urgency, but the efforts will take time,” reacted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. “The transition from Soviet-era equipment to modern NATO equipment requires Ukrainians to be ready to use it,” he added before the start of a meeting of the alliance’s NATO defense ministers.

For its part, Washington urged its allies to “step up” supplies to the Ukrainians. “Ukraine is facing a crucial moment on the battlefield,” the US Secretary of Defense said. “We must therefore intensify our joint engagement” and “redouble our efforts so that it can defend itself,” he added.