The essential :
- Ukraine rejected overnight from Sunday to Monday the ultimatum of Russia demanding the capitulation of the port city of Mariupol, located in the south-east of the country. “There is no question of talking about surrender or laying down arms. We have already informed the Russian side about this,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk told the newspaper. Ukrayinskaya Pravda. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday he wanted to negotiate directly with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to end the fighting.
- The war in Ukraine is more than ever marked by a humanitarian catastrophe. Nearly 3.5 million people have fled the country and the fighting sparked by the invasion of the Russian army on February 24, according to the UN count published on Monday. Ten million Ukrainians, a quarter of the population, had to leave their homes to flee the fighting.
- Joe Biden will travel to Warsaw on Friday to meet his Polish counterpart, Andrzej Duda, to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House announced on Sunday. The trip of the American president will take place after his visit to Belgium to meet leaders of NATO, the G7 and the European Union.
2:51 p.m. – Poland wants military spending not to count for budget deficit
Poland will seek to modify the European rule of the public deficit limited to 3% of GDP, by excluding defense spending from its calculation, in the context of Russian aggression in Ukraine, its Prime Minister said on Monday. Mateusz Morawiecki, who spoke at a press conference given with the President of the Swiss Confederation Ignazio Cassis, felt that this idea was “gaining more and more supporters” within the European Council. While claiming to respect the rule of 3% of GDP established almost thirty years ago by the Maastricht Treaty, the head of the Polish government considered that the war in Ukraine “has completely upset the geopolitical order in Europe and in fact around the world”, which obliges States to strengthen their defence.
2:41 p.m. – The Russians fear a shortage of sugar, the State reassures
The Russian authorities tried Monday to reassure by denying any shortage of sugar or buckwheat in the country, while the Russians have rushed in recent days on these foodstuffs for fear of running out. Westerners have adopted harsh sanctions against Russia for its offensive in Ukraine and part of the population, traumatized by the shortages of the 1990s, is seeking to stock up on sugar – used to preserve certain foods – and buckwheat seeds, often used in porridge, the famous “gretchka” popular in times of crisis. “Already, during the first wave of the pandemic, we saw a rush on sugar and gretchka. As in 2020, I want to calm our fellow citizens today: we are completely self-sufficient in sugar and buckwheat,” asserted Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko.
2:27 p.m. – The FSB calls for the suspension of WhatsApp and Instagram in Russia
The Russian security services (FSB) demanded Monday the “immediate” ban of American social networks Facebook and Instagram, on the first day of a trial for “extremism” in a context of reinforced repression since the offensive in Ukraine. “The activities of Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) are directed against Russia and its armed forces. We call for its prohibition and the obligation to apply this measure immediately”, declared during the hearing a spokesperson. of the FSB, Igor Kovalevski, quoted by the Interfax press agency.
1:58 p.m. – A collection in French of speeches by Volodymyr Zelensky published in May
A collection of speeches and an “unpublished address to the French” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be published in May, the French editions Grasset announced on Monday. “Editions Grasset announce the exclusive publication of a book by President Zelensky composed of a set of selected speeches and an unpublished address to the French. This book will constitute the first world edition of his speeches”, indicated the publisher in a statement to AFP.
1:46 p.m. – Employees of Leroy Merlin in Ukraine get involved
Employees of the Ukrainian branch of Leroy Merlin on Monday asked the French brand specializing in DIY, as well as the other brands of the Mulliez family association (AFM) present in Russia, Auchan and Décathlon, to cease their activities, while a Leroy Merlin store was bombed Sunday evening in kyiv. Leroy Merlin’s official Instagram account in Ukraine, leroymerlin.ua, posted on Monday a photo of the bombed store in Kyiv on Sunday night with the caption “stop sales in Russia” and a link to an online petition on the openpetition.eu website. asking Adeo, the holding company of Leroy Merlin, to cease its activities in Russia.
1:37 p.m. – Europe in search of its military power
The 1st White Paper on European Defense was adopted on Monday 21 March by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense. The fruit of a long work.
Read Emmanuel Berretta’s perspective War in Ukraine: Europe in search of its military power
1:18 p.m. – The war in Ukraine, a tragedy for Sudan
Due in particular to the war between Ukraine and Russia, the main wheat exporters, nearly one in two Sudanese could suffer from hunger this year, warns David Wright of Save the Children, fearing school drop-outs and marriages of minors. By the end of the year, the head of operations of this NGO assures that “20 million people will be food insecure” out of 45 million Sudanese, in one of the poorest countries in the world.
11:50 a.m. – FSB calls for “immediate” ban on Facebook and Instagram
The Russian security services (FSB) demanded Monday the “immediate” ban of American social networks Facebook and Instagram, on the first day of a trial for “extremism” in a context of reinforced repression since the offensive in Ukraine. “The activities of Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) are directed against Russia and its armed forces. We call for its prohibition and the obligation to apply this measure immediately”, declared during the hearing a spokesperson. of the FSB, Igor Kovalevski, quoted by the Interfax press agency.
Read also “To say that Telegram is a safe messaging service is, at best, incompetence”
A prosecutor also called for Meta to be banned, “due to clear signs of extremist activity”. However, he asked to exempt the messaging application WhatsApp, which is also owned by Meta, from this ban. On March 11, the Russian prosecutor’s office had asked Meta to be classified as an “extremist” organization, a measure paving the way for the banning of all its activities in Russia. The request followed a decision by the parent company of Facebook and Instagram to relax its rules on violent posts against the Russian army and leaders in connection with Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.
11:30 a.m. – Moscow Stock Exchange partially reopens for bonds
The Moscow Stock Exchange, closed since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine last month, announced on Monday that it had resumed trading in government bonds, the first step in a gradual reopening. A spokesman for the Stock Exchange, Andreï Braguinski, told Agence France-Presse that trading in federal bond bonds, issued by the Russian government, had resumed. He said he hoped stock trading would resume soon, after more than three weeks of suspension. “Technically everything is ready, we hope it will resume in the near future.” The Russian authorities had so far refused to reopen the Moscow Stock Exchange, for fear of a stock market cataclysm due to massive Western sanctions against the Russian economy. The national currency, the rouble, has fallen to historic lows since the launch of the offensive.
11:10 a.m. – Volodymyr Zelensky calls on the EU to stop all “trade” with Russia
The Ukrainian president on Monday called on the European Union to cease all “trade” with Russia, and in particular to refuse its energy resources, in a video on Telegram messaging. “No euros for the occupiers, close all your ports to them, do not send them your goods, refuse energy resources”, pleaded the Ukrainian president. “Without trade with you, without your companies and your banks, Russia will have no more money for this war,” he added.