2023-05-15 19:46:00
“Back home with (…) new and powerful weapons for the front,” Mr. Zelensky announced in a video message to his fellow citizens, after completing his three-day tour of the United Kingdom, where he also obtained anti-aircraft missiles and expressed optimism about future fighter jet deliveries. His French counterpart Emmanuel Macron said on Monday evening that he had “opened the door” to the training of Ukrainian pilots “from now on”.
After Rome, Berlin and Paris, the British leg of Mr Zelensky’s European tour came as the Ukrainian army claimed “the first success” of its assault on the flanks of Bakhmout, a town in the eastern epicenter fighting for several months and today largely controlled by the Russians.
But the time for a massive counter-offensive has not yet come, Volodymyr Zelensky had tempered during the day, repeating that Kiev “needs more time”, when he was received by Rishi Sunak near London.
On the ground, strikes again caused civilian casualties in the east: four dead in Avdiivka, a locality located on the front line near Donetsk, and two others in a village in the Kharkiv region, according to the authorities. regional.
Ukrainian emergency services also reported “massive” Russian strikes on Kherson (south), where several apartment buildings were hit. In the region of Nikopol (center) bombardments left three injured, including a 14-year-old girl.
In the United Kingdom, the government has promised the delivery to Kiev, “in the coming months”, of “hundreds” of anti-aircraft missiles and long-range attack drones (200 kilometers). These will be added to the Storm Shadow cruise missiles promised last week by London, a first for this type of armament that Ukraine has been demanding for months to achieve objectives far behind the front line.
The Russian army claimed to have already shot down one of these devices.
The reinforcement of British aid will cause “even more destruction” but will have “no significant impact on the course” of the conflict, assured the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitry Peskov.
But British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stressed that British aid was for the long term, and that London would play a “key role” in the “coalition” that Kiev wants to succeed in forming to deliver fighter jets to it. .
“I think it will happen very soon, you will be informed of decisions that I think are very important,” said Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, saying he was “very optimistic”.
No European country has so far come forward to supply such planes to kyiv, but the United Kingdom will already be training Ukrainian pilots this summer.
Emmanuel Macron himself announced Monday evening that he had “opened the door to train” Ukrainian “pilots now” and “with several other European countries who are ready for it”, during an interview on the TF1 channel. On the other hand, he refused to mention the delivery of fighter jets to kyiv other than as “a theoretical debate” at this stage.
Sunday, Mr. Zelensky had received in Paris the repeated commitment of France, in particular in the field of armored vehicles and light tanks AMX-10 of which Paris will still provide “dozens” of copies, according to a joint declaration.
In Berlin, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a new package of military aid to Ukraine, worth 2.7 billion euros, including in particular dozens of tanks, other armored vehicles, surveillance drones and four new Iris-T air defense systems.
The United States for its part warned on Monday Iran and Russia which “are in the process of amplifying their unprecedented military cooperation”, according to John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council.
He cited in particular Moscow’s willingness to acquire more sophisticated Iranian drones than those provided so far.
He added that the United States would announce new sanctions “in the coming days” against entities or persons involved in these transactions.
Also on the diplomatic level, the Chinese envoy Li Hui, the special representative for Eurasian affairs in charge of discussing the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, will visit Kiev on Tuesday and Wednesday, announced a senior Ukrainian government official.
China has never publicly condemned Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine, unlike most major world powers.
South Africa, accused by the United States of having delivered arms to Russia, has sent its land forces commander Lawrence Mbatha to Moscow for “a goodwill visit”.
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