The essential :
After a defense council, Jean-Yves Le Drian encouraged the French to leave the Ukrainian capital by the southern route. In the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s nuclear threat, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution convening Monday “in emergency extraordinary session” the General Assembly of the United Nations. This meeting will start at 4 p.m. (French time).
The Ukrainian delegation arrived at the Belarusian border to participate in peace talks with Russia. Kiev demands an “immediate” ceasefire and the withdrawal of Russian forces from the country, while Moscow says it wants to find “an agreement” to end the conflict.
Volodymyr Zelensky called for Ukraine to join the EU “without delay” following the Russian invasion. European Council President Charles Michel acknowledged that “different opinions” exist among member states. For the first time in its history, the EU will put an end to the “taboo that the Union does not supply arms to belligerents” by financing 450 million euros worth of arms and other equipment to the Ukraine facing the Russian invasion.
2:00 p.m. – Ukraine: Vladimir Putin’s secret war aims
Is the Russian President seeking to occupy all of Ukraine? Only half? Experts decipher “the desired final effect” of the Russian offensive.
Read the analysis Ukraine: Vladimir Putin’s secret war aims
1:49 p.m. – The “Anonymous” claim an attack against Russian media
The hacker group “Anonymous” claimed Monday a cyberattack that paralyzed the sites of several Russian media, including those of state agencies, in the wake of computer attacks that have targeted many Russian official sites in recent days. For a few minutes, the sites of the state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti, of the newspaper Kommersantfrom the pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia and magazine Forbes Russia displayed a message calling for an “end” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
1:23 p.m. – “Tens of billions of euros frozen” according to Le Maire
At the end of the Defense Council on Monday, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire affirmed that “all the assets of the Russian central bank were frozen last night”. According to him, “this represents sums in the tens of billions of euros which are undermining its foreign exchange reserves and its ability to finance Russian trade”. “The effects are already visible in Russia on the level of the ruble, interest rates and the financial market,” he adds.
1:16 p.m. – The French can leave Kiev, according to Le Drian
The French Foreign Minister said Monday morning that French nationals in Kiev can now leave the Ukrainian capital. “Our compatriots can decide to seize this opportunity to leave by road,” he said after a Defense Council.
12:18 p.m. – The milestone of 500,000 refugees reached
More than 500,000 people have come from Ukraine to take refuge in several neighboring countries since the outbreak of a major Russian military offensive on Thursday, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi tweeted on Monday. A count sent a little earlier by the services of Filippo Grandi reported 499,412 registered refugees, including 281,000 for Poland alone.
More than 500,000 refugees have now fled from Ukraine into neighboring countries.
—Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) February 28, 2022
12:15 p.m. – 5,000 applications to immigrate to Israel
More than 5,000 people in Ukraine have contacted the Jewish Agency with a view to immigrating to Israel, the organization told AFP on Monday, which created a specific call center after the Russian invasion. In addition to the launch of this call center, the Jewish Agency has set up six offices in countries bordering Ukraine (Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary) where candidates for immigration are received in order to assess their request, which is then forwarded to the Israeli authorities, a spokeswoman told AFP. These offices should make it possible to manage “immediately the expected waves of immigration due to the war in Ukraine,” the Jewish Agency, an organization created in 1929 to help Jewish immigration to Israel, said in a statement on Sunday.
12:13 p.m. – Beginning of negotiations
Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine began Monday in Belarus, the first talks between the two countries since the start of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the Belarusian state news agency Belta. The Kremlin adviser Vladimir Medinski chairs the Russian delegation, while that of Kiev is led by the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiï Reznikov, who came in khaki military uniform. “You can feel completely safe,” said Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei as he welcomed them.
12:00 p.m. – “Different opinions” on Ukraine’s EU membership
After Volodymyr Zelensky’s request to bring Ukraine into the European Union, European Council President Charles Michel said there were “different opinions” among member states.
11:40 a.m. – Castex receives the presidential candidates
Prime Minister Jean Castex is due to receive the main presidential candidates at 3 p.m. Monday at Matignon for a meeting to follow up on the conflict in Ukraine “and the decisions taken by France and the European Union to respond to it”, indicated Prime Minister’s office. The head of government will be accompanied by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, the Minister for the Armed Forces, Florence Parly, as well as the government spokesperson, Gabriel Attal. Only declared candidates who have collected at least 300 sponsorships have been invited, said Matignon.
-> Read also Ukraine-Russia War: Zemmour and Mélenchon on a slippery slope
Marine Le Pen, Valérie Pécresse, Éric Zemmour, Yannick Jadot, Fabien Roussel, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, Anne Hidalgo, Jean Lassalle confirmed their presence, while the candidate of Lutte Ouvrière, Nathalie Arthaud, for her part declined the invitation. . The case of Jean-Luc Mélenchon is, on the other hand, not yet decided: the Insoumis intended to be represented by the deputy Bastien Lachaud, but Matignon specified that the invitation only concerned the only candidates.
11:35 a.m. – The German club Schalke 04 breaks its partnership with Gazprom
German club Schalke 04 has announced that it is breaking its contract with its main sponsor, the Russian gas giant Gazprom, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. “The FC Schalke 04 board of directors, with the agreement of the supervisory board, has decided to terminate the contract with Gazprom before its expiry,” the club announced on its website. The club had already decided last week to erase the name of Gazprom from its shirts for the league match on Saturday.
11:26 a.m. – Putin seeks the answer to the sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin is working Monday on the economic response to heavy Western sanctions imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin said. “The president is in the Kremlin, he takes care of the economy,” said his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, during a daily press briefing. “The sanctions are heavy, they are problematic (…), but Russia has all the potential to compensate for the damage”.
11:19 a.m. – Secret Moscow before talks start
The Kremlin does not intend to reveal its position before the negotiations which should begin shortly with Ukraine, indicated the spokesman of the Kremlin. “I’m not going to announce the positions we have, etc. Negotiations must be done in silence,” said Dmitri Peskov during his daily press briefing. “Let the negotiators settle in,” he added.
11:18 a.m. – Airbnb provides housing for refugees
The American tourist rental platform Airbnb has announced that it will offer free short-term accommodation to up to 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. These stays will be funded by the company, donors to an Airbnb fund for refugees and hosts. Airbnb has also indicated that it is working with the governments of several European countries to welcome Ukrainian refugees to their territory, including for long-term stays.