Update on the situation at dawn on Sunday February 25
The G7 promised, Saturday February 24, the anniversary of the Russian invasion, to ” bring up [à Moscou] the cost of war » in Ukraine, following a virtual summit where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged his allies to deliver military aid to ” time “ to his weakened country at the dawn of a third year of war.
“We will continue to raise the cost of war [pour la Russie], to reduce its sources of revenue and impede its efforts to build its war machine, as demonstrated by the sanctions packages we recently adopted”said the G7 leaders in a joint statement. kyiv’s allies also denounced the aid provided by Tehran, Beijing and Pyongyang to Moscow, and promised to“act against third party actors who materially support Russia’s war”.
- Demonstrations in support of Ukraine across Europe
Thousands of people demonstrated on Saturday in France and Europe to show their support for Ukraine, two years after the total invasion of the country by Moscow’s troops.
In Paris, a few thousand people walked between the Places de la République and the Bastille, in an imposing calm, sometimes broken by “Putin assassin!” » or some “Russia out of Ukraine!” ».
- New bilateral agreements with Ukraine
Faced with the needs of his country and its army, Mr. Zelensky continued to consolidate his alliances by signing, on Saturday, bilateral security agreements with Canada and Italy, as he has already done with several European countries, like Germany or France. Canada will provide kyiv with approximately $2.2 billion (approximately 2 billion euros) in financial and military aid in 2024.
Ursula von der Leyen announced that the European Union (EU) would pay 4.5 billion euros to kyiv in March, a first tranche of an envelope of 50 billion euros approved in February by the Twenty seven. During a meeting with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, reaffirmed the EU’s full solidarity with Ukraine. The EU had promised to supply Kiev with one million shells over the past year, but is expected to reach just over half of that target by a deadline next month.
- Russian power is rejoicing; the opposition is decimated
Faced with Ukraine’s difficulties, Russia prides itself on increasing its assaults on the front and claims successes, in particular the capture of the fortress town of Avdiïvka on February 17. “The advantage is on our side”declared Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu during a visit to his troops, according to a press release published on Saturday.
In Russia, Vladimir Putin once again greeted his “hero” who are fighting Ukraine. Some 500,000 men signed up in 2023 and around 50,000 more in January this year alone.
Three weeks before the Russian presidential election in mid-March, Mr. Putin’s hold on power seems more complete than ever. On Saturday in Moscow, police made several arrests, including journalists, during a gathering of wives of mobilized soldiers demanding their return from Ukraine.
- Ukraine claims strike on a large Russian steel plant in the west of the country
Ukraine claimed responsibility for a drone strike on one of Russia’s largest steel mills on Saturday. The Russian authorities, for their part, reported a fire at the Novolipetsk steel site (NLMK), in the western region of Lipetsk.