Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday urged NATO to invite his country to join the Alliance and asked for its help to “overcome the reluctance” of the allies to deliver crucial weapons to Kiev to fight Russia.
“It is time” for NATO to invite Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky told Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who was visiting Kiev, also asking the latter “to help us overcome the reluctance of our partners regarding the delivery of “long-range” weapons, modern aviation, artillery, armored vehicles.
The main information to remember:
– “It is time” for NATO to invite kyiv into its ranks, says Zelensky
– NATO must ensure Ukraine ‘trumps’ Russia, says Stoltenberg
– Switzerland places the Russian group Wagner on its list of sanctioned entities
NATO must ensure Ukraine ‘trumps’ Russia, says Stoltenberg
The Secretary General of NATO estimated Thursday in Kiev that his priority was a Ukrainian military victory over Russia and that the question of Ukraine’s accession to the Alliance will be debated in July at the summit of the organization .
“The future of Ukraine is in the Euro-Atlantic family, the future of Ukraine is in NATO. At the same time, the main objective of the Alliance, of the allies, is to ensure that Ukraine wins,” said Jens Stoltenberg, alongside Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, in Kiev.
Switzerland places Russian group Wagner on its list of sanctioned entities
Switzerland on Thursday added the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner and the media RIA FAN to its list of individuals and entities sanctioned for their link with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Wagner group “serves as an instrument in Russia’s hybrid warfare,” the Federal Department of Economics said in a statement.
“The group with an obscure legal nature is part of a complex network of companies active all over the world (in the fields of aviation, security, technology, commodity trading, financial services and influence activities, for example), which are interconnected via ownership relationships and logistical networks,” he added.
Confusion around the origin of a flash in the sky of kyiv
A flash seen in the skies of Kyiv on Wednesday sparked confusion over its origin, with the city administration first attributing it to the downing of a Nasa satellite, before the US space agency claimed that it had not yet entered the atmosphere at that time.
“Around 10:00 p.m. (19:00 GMT), the glow of an aerial object was observed in the sky of Kiev,” said the head of the military administration of the Ukrainian capital, Sergiy Popko on Telegram. “According to initial information, this phenomenon is the consequence of the fall of a NASA satellite on Earth,” he added. Shortly after, the Ukrainian Air Force also claimed that the flash was “related to the fall of a satellite/meteorite”, while stating that this was yet to be clarified.
The US space agency announced earlier in the week that the Rhessi satellite, weighing some 300 kg, would return to the atmosphere at an undetermined time on Wednesday. But in a statement to AFP, NASA said its Rhessi satellite had not yet entered the atmosphere at the time of the light flash observed above Kiev.
The Pentagon predicts Rhessi “will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere at approximately 8:50 p.m. Wednesday (0050 GMT Thursday) with a window of plus or minus one hour,” NASA said Wednesday. “No other NASA satellites re-entered the atmosphere earlier today (Wednesday),” the agency also said.