14:14
Russian gas transit through Ukraine hits all-time low
Transit of Russian gas via Ukraine fell in June to its lowest historical level, or 334 million cubic meters per day, announced Friday the operator of Ukrainian gas pipelines OGTSOU, denouncing the “gas blackmail” of Moscow.
He criticizes the Russian group Gazprom “for only exploiting one seventh of the capacities of the Ukrainian gas pipelines, and for not even using the quotas reserved and paid under its contract with OGTSOU”.
However, underlines the Ukrainian operator, “alternative routes” would make it possible to send much larger volumes to Western Europe and to completely replace transit by the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, currently used at 40% of its capacity by the Russia.
12:55
Update on the situation at 1 p.m.
• Russia “will not run” after the United States for a meeting at the G20. “It’s not us who abandoned the contacts, it’s the United States (…) We are not going to run after anyone who suggests a meeting,” Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Bali where the meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the group is held.
• Washington asks Moscow to “let the grain out of Ukraine”. “To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Sergei Lavrov, whom he refused to meet separately.
• At the G20, Lavrov boycotts several interventions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was absent when his Ukrainian counterpart spoke online Friday to the heads of diplomacy of the G20. He then left the meeting when his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
• Gérard Larcher in Kyiv. The President of the Senate arrived in kyiv this Friday morning to “express our admiration for the Ukrainian people, for the parliamentarians, our solidarity”.
11:58
Russian opponent sentenced to 7 years in prison for denouncing the offensive against Ukraine
A Moscow municipal elected official, Alexeï Gorinov was sentenced to 7 years in prison on Friday for having denounced the Russian assault against Ukraine, in the midst of a wave of repression to silence any criticism of the offensive decided by Vladimir Putin.
Judge Olessia Mendeleeva found the 60-year-old defendant guilty of having “disseminated clearly false information” about the Russian army using “his official duties” and of having done so as part of a motivated organized group by “political hatred”.
11:46
Germany criticizes Russia, “not interested” in dialogue with the G20
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock criticized Russia on Friday for not being “interested”, according to her, in a dialogue with the G20 after the departure of the head of Russian diplomacy during a meeting in Bali ( Indonesia).
The departure of Sergei Lavrov “underlines all the more clearly that he is not interested in international cooperation or in exchanges with other partners” within the G20, she judged in a statement from Bali and broadcast by German television.
The head of Russian diplomacy had previously left the meeting room when Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
11:22
Washington to push for Russian oil price cap at G20
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will continue to lobby her G20 counterparts for a cap on Russian oil prices, in a bid to starve Moscow of funding needed to continue the war in Ukraine, officials said.
Joe Biden’s minister will be in Bali, Indonesia, to participate in the meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors on July 15-16, a senior Treasury official told reporters on Thursday.
A “global and growing coalition” of countries shares Washington’s goals of starving Russian leader Vladimir Putin of revenue to fund his military, he said.
10:46
Lavrov leaves G20 meeting during German Foreign Minister’s speech
After boycotting his Ukrainian counterpart’s speech, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov walked out of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting on Friday when his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock criticized Moscow over the war in Ukraine, according to reports. diplomats.
Sergei Lavrov also walked out of a session where Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was speaking online, and was absent when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Russia, several diplomats told Archyde.com. AFP.
9:41
Antony Blinken calls on Russia to ‘let the grain out of Ukraine’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed his Russian counterpart at closed-door G20 talks in Bali, demanding that Moscow allow grain shipments from war-ravaged Ukraine, a Western official said.
“To our Russian colleagues: Ukraine is not your country. Its grain is not your grain. Why are you blocking the ports? You should let the grain out,” Antony Blinken told the Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, whom he refused to meet separately, according to a Western official present.
9:27
“We came to express our admiration for the Ukrainian people”, explains Gérard Larcher, visiting kyiv
Senate President Gérard Larcher arrived in kyiv on Friday morning. From the station, he returned to the reasons for his visit: “We came to express our admiration for the Ukrainian people, for the parliamentarians; our solidarity”.
At the microphone of BFMTV, Gérard Larcher explains his intention to sign during the day “a cooperation agreement between the Senate of the French Republic and the Ukrainian Rada”.
9:14
Sergei Lavrov absent during the speech of the head of Ukrainian diplomacy at the G20
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was absent when his Ukrainian counterpart spoke online Friday to the heads of diplomacy of the G20 meeting in Indonesia, diplomatic sources told AFP.
The Russian minister attended the morning sessions in Bali but was not present when Dmytro Kuleba spoke at the afternoon meeting dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several diplomats said under cover of the ‘anonymity.
9:04
Russia heard at G20 ‘a chorus’ of calls for an end to the war in Ukraine, Blinken points out
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed on Friday that Russia had heard a “chorus” of calls to end the war in Ukraine thanks to Sergei Lavrov’s participation in the meeting.
“What we have already heard today is a strong chorus from around the world, not just from the United States for (…) that the aggression stops,” the American official told reporters.
8:20
Russia ‘won’t run’ after US for G20 meeting
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that he “will not run” to Washington for talks after his American counterpart Antony Blinken refused to meet him on the sidelines of a G20 meeting.
“It’s not us who abandoned the contacts, it’s the United States (…) We are not going to run after anyone who suggests a meeting,” Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Bali where the meeting of the heads of diplomacy of the group is held.
7:14
Gérard Larcher expected in kyiv this morning
Senate President Gérard Larcher (LR) is expected in kyiv this Friday morning. He is due to arrive in the Ukrainian capital at 8:20 a.m. Paris time.
He will remain there until Saturday. He is notably expected before the Ukrainian Parliament, where he must meet the president and deliver a speech to the deputies. During his stay, he will also meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Finally, Gérard Larcher is expected in the towns of Irpin, Boutcha and Boridyanka, all located in the suburbs of kyiv and erected as a symbol of the abuses committed by the Russian army. A press conference is also announced.
5:48
G20 host Indonesia calls on Lavrov for end to war
Retno Marsudi, the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, host country of the G20 this year, called this Friday for the end of the war in Ukraine in the presence of her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“It is our responsibility to end the war as soon as possible and to settle our differences at the negotiating table, not on the battlefield,” she said at the opening of a meeting of the leaders of the diplomacy of the group being held in Bali.
4:08
If Westerners want to defeat Russia, “let them try”, says Putin
“Let them try!” Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday challenged the West to defeat Russia “on the battlefield” in Ukraine, where, he said, Moscow has “not yet started the serious business”.
“Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. What can I say? Let them try!” Putin said during a meeting with the leaders of the groups in the lower house of parliament. broadcast on television.
4:08
Soccer star Megan Rapinoe pays tribute to Brittney Griner, detained in Russia
American football star Megan Rapinoe, decorated Thursday by Joe Biden at the White House along with a dozen other personalities, paid a silent tribute to basketball player Brittney Griner, detained in Russia.
The star of the United States women’s football team wore, to receive the “Medal of Freedom”, the highest American civilian honor, a white trouser suit with on the lapel, embroidered, a flower and the initials “BG”.