Fighting took place Friday, February 25 in Kiev, the second day of an invasion of Ukraine triggered by Vladimir Putin, now subject in person to sanctions by the West, also worried about the fate he reserves for his Ukrainian counterpart. Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Atlantic Alliance, for its part, has begun to deploy elements of its reaction force to be able to quickly deal with any eventuality. “Ukrainian forces are fighting bravely and are able to inflict damage on Russian forces invading them”, said its secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. At the same time, the Ukrainian president said he had discussed with Joe Biden a “concrete defense aid”.
Russia vetoes UN resolution deploring its ‘aggression’ of Ukraine
Russia vetoed, as expected, during a vote in the UN Security Council on Friday evening, a resolution co-written by the United States and Albania deploring in “the strongest terms” his “aggression against Ukraine” and asking him to withdraw ” immediately “ his troops from this country.
Of the fifteen members of the Council, eleven countries voted in favor of the text, three abstained: China, India and the United Arab Emirates. The project had been softened in the hours preceding the election to ” to secure “ abstentions and prevent these three countries from voting no, according to a diplomat. The proposed text thus no longer included the term “condemn”, replaced by “deplore”. A reference to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which provides for the possible use of force, has also been deleted.
Putin calls on the Ukrainian army to take power
But the Russian president seems determined to continue his offensive and achieve regime change in Ukraine. On Friday, he described the members of the Ukrainian head of state’s team as ” drugs “ and of “neo-Nazis”. “Take the power in your hands!” »he launched to the address of the Ukrainian soldiers. “It seems to me that it will be easier to negotiate between you and me”he added.
As a sign of defiance, Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Washington fears will be the victim of a “atrocious act”released a video on social networks in which he is seen on the street, claiming to be still in Kiev and determined to “to defend” Ukraine.
A few hours later, he also estimated that the Russian army would try to attack and seize Kiev in the night, when fighting continues in the capital. “We cannot lose the capital. I address our defenders, men and women from all fronts: tonight the enemy will use all their forces to break through our defenses in the most vile, harsh and inhuman way. Tonight they will try to seize of Kiev, he said in a video address published on the website of the presidency.
Russia, which had called for the surrender of the Ukrainian army as a precondition for “negotiations”, had also said it was ready to organize a meeting with a Ukrainian delegation in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. It’s not “not real diplomacy”commented the US State Department.
The first Russian units entered Kiev
On the ground of operations, the first Russian military units entered the north of Kiev on Friday, killing people there. In the Oblon district, Agence France-Presse saw a civilian killed on a sidewalk and paramedics rescuing another, prisoner of the carcass of a car crushed by an armored vehicle.
The Ukrainians also reported clashes in two localities between 40 and 80 km north of the capital. Russian troops were also, they said, approaching Kiev from the northeast and east.
“Last night they started shelling civilian neighborhoods. It reminds us [l’offensive nazie de] 1941 »dropped Mr. Zelensky Friday morning, pronouncing this sentence in Russian, a sign that it was intended for Russians.
He greeted the“heroism” of the population in the face of an invasion which, according to a report dating from midday Thursday, left at least 137 dead and 316 injured on the Ukrainian side. And assured that the soldiers were doing “their possible” to defend the country. The Ukrainian president also called on seasoned Europeans to come and fight in Ukraine.
Thousands of Ukrainians displaced by fighting
As a result of this conflict, which could be the most serious in Europe since 1945, some 100,000 people have already been displaced and 50,000 have left Ukrainian territory, deplored the UN, which called for a “unobstructed access” for humanitarian aid.
The invasion has thrown thousands of Ukrainians onto the roads, who are flocking to the EU’s borders – notably in Poland, Hungary and Romania.
EU and UK personally sanction Putin
President Zelensky criticized the Europeans for being too slow to support Ukraine and called on those who “a combat experience” to come and fight alongside the Ukrainians. His Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a member of NATO, also criticized the EU and the Atlantic Alliance for their inaction.
For now, the Western camp is focused on tightening sanctions on Russia after it restricted its access to financial markets and technology. But the twenty-seven states of the European Union did not go so far as to exclude Russia from the international banking system Swift and Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country has just asked the International Monetary Fund for emergency financial aid, urged them to go further.
The European Union and the United Kingdom, which has banned Russian private jets from its airspace, have also imposed sanctions on Vladimir Putin himself and on his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
A measure described by Russian diplomacy as a sign of a “absolute helplessness” that the United States was nevertheless preparing to take in turn – going so far as to consider prohibiting them from entering its territory –, just like Canada. Under these conditions, Moscow estimated, relations with the West are close to ” point of no return “.
Other retaliatory measures: Russia has been suspended from participating in Council of Europe bodies and the OECD has closed the door to its membership.
Sports, culture… Russia ostracized
The Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix, scheduled for September 2 in Sochi, in the southwest of this country, has been canceled. The Champions League final, which was due to take place in Saint Petersburg, was moved to the Stade-de-France, near Paris, on May 2.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive committee has urged all international sports federations to cancel or relocate any events scheduled in Russia or Belarus. Russia has also been banned from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The stock markets are recovering, raw materials at their highest
After soaring on Thursday, commodity prices remained very high, with a barrel of Brent oil above $100, even though US WTI had returned to around $95. Russia is a key exporter of oil, gas, wheat and other raw materials.
The world’s major stock markets were recovering after their plunge on Thursday, but the market remained volatile.