British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is again on a visit to kyiv this Friday, a surprise visit which comes the day after that of four leaders of the European Union. “I am delighted to see a great friend of our country, Boris Johnson, in kyiv again,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “It’s good to be in kyiv again,” said Boris Johnson on his Twitter account.
Information to remember:
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Kyiv
- The situation is “extremely alarming” in the Donbass
- Ukraine is suspended on the verdict of its candidacy for the European Union
- The Twenty-Seven must decide, during a summit on June 23 and 24, whether to grant Ukraine this official candidate status
- The fighting has been concentrated for several weeks on Severodonetsk and Lyssytchansk
Ukraine denounces the decision to withdraw the next Eurovision
Ukraine, which won the Eurovision Song Contest this year, on Friday denounced the decision to withdraw its hosting of the next edition for security reasons after the Russian invasion of its territory. “Ukraine does not agree with the nature of the decision taken by the European Broadcasting Union,” Culture Minister Oleksandre Tkatchenko said in a statement. “We are calling for additional negotiations on hosting Eurovision-2023 in Ukraine.”
France no longer receives any Russian gas by pipeline
The manager of the French gas transmission network GRTgaz announced Friday that it will no longer receive Russian gas by pipeline since June 15, with “the interruption of the physical flow between France and Germany”. The Russian giant Gazprom has considerably reduced its deliveries to European countries in recent days, in particular to Germany via the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which could have caused the interruption of supplies to France. But the French manager reassured about the filling of French stocks which amounts to 56% against 50% usually on the same date.
The situation is “extremely alarming” in the Donbass
The humanitarian situation in Ukraine, after nearly four months of Russian invasion, is “extremely alarming”, the UN said on Friday, as fighting between Ukrainian and Russian armies continues to rage in the east of the country.
According to Ocha, the UN humanitarian agency, the situation is “particularly worrying” in Severodonetsk and its surroundings, the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the Lugansk region, almost entirely under Russian control. “Access to drinking water, food, (… and electricity” is “reduced” there”, underlines Ocha, result in particular “of fighting which continues to intensify”, “charging a heavy toll on the civilian population”.
“Across the country, residential areas and civilian infrastructure continue to be affected, resulting in more civilians being killed and injured,” the UN agency said. Despite “enormous difficulties of access”, the UN and its humanitarian partners “have reached more than 8.8 million people across Ukraine since the start of the war”, however welcomed the organization. .
According to the UN, 4,452 civilians have been killed and 5,531 injured since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, according to the latest report provided on June 15. The UN regularly points out that “the figure is probably much higher”.
Ukraine suspended on the verdict of its candidacy for the European Union
Ukraine was suspended Friday from the verdict of the European Commission, which must give its opinion on the status of candidate for the EU of the country at war, a way for kyiv to protect itself by integrating the “European family”. “Ukraine is part of the European family,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wanted to reassure during a visit to Ukraine on Thursday with his Italian and French counterparts, EU heavyweights.
The French, German and Italian leaders as well as their Romanian counterpart said on Thursday that they were ready to grant “immediately” to Ukraine the status of candidate for membership of the European Union. “All four of us support immediate candidate status for membership,” French President Emmanuel Macron said.
“The status of candidate for entry into the European Union for Ukraine can strengthen freedom in Europe and become one of the key European decisions of the first third of the 21st century”, pleaded President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday evening.
The main difficulty will remain to achieve unanimity within the EU
Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, also gave her voice on the subject of membership, in a video message to the WomenNow conference on Thursday: airlines – to be invited to Europe no longer as refugees but as allies”.
“These people are not only fighting for their own benefit, but also to prevent the aggressor from coming to Europe,” she argued.
Whatever the sensitivity of the Commission to this idea of a Ukraine as a bulwark against Moscow, the main difficulty will remain to succeed next week in achieving unanimity within the EU – the countries of Eastern Europe , sensitive to the threat at their borders being rather for, others like Denmark or the Netherlands reserved.
The decision will come on June 23 or 24
The Twenty-Seven must indeed decide, during a summit on June 23 and 24, if they grant Ukraine this official status of candidate, the start of negotiations which could last for years.
But, beyond the more or less long-term political and economic benefits (with the initiation of significant financial aid intended to support reforms and reconstruction), in the short term, that of the war, an acceptance of his candidacy would have an eminently symbolic dimension for kyiv, of belonging to the “European family”, a family which protects its members.
The European Commission’s recommendation, expected Friday during the day, will therefore send a strong signal to kyiv – and to Moscow.
French and German leaders have pledged to continue their military support for kyiv
An accepted candidacy from Ukraine would also open the question of its membership of Defense Europe, while the French and German leaders have pledged to continue their military support for kyiv. France is preparing to deliver six self-propelled guns to Ukraine, adding to the 12 already delivered, adding to the new billion-dollar tranche of US military aid.
But “membership of the European Union is subject to clear rules which must be respected by all”, however recalled Mr. Scholz during his visit, even if the express examination of the candidacy of kyiv, submitted in February , is of an unprecedented speed, justified by the war.
Volodymyr Zelensky will leave Ukrainian territory for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion
In the wake of the European summit which will decide the fate of his application for EU membership, Mr. Zelensky will be able to continue to plead his case at the next G7 summit, which will be held from June 26 to 28 in Bavaria. This will be his first outing from Ukrainian territory since the start of the Russian invasion in late February.
Ukrainian forces remain in difficulty in the Donbass, a region in the east of the country partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, which Moscow has set itself the objective of conquering.
The fighting has been concentrated for several weeks on Severodonetsk and Lyssytchansk, two key cities for the control of Donbass, subjected to constant bombardments. About 10,000 civilians are still present in Severodonetsk, according to the Ukrainian authorities.
“We trust in the will of God, in the help of God, in the help of all the saints and of the Virgin Mary,” lists Sister Anastasia, who lives in a community of Orthodox nuns near the nearby town of Sloviansk. She points to a large crater left by a missile launch in the middle of the garden. Beyond the neighboring fields are the Russian forces, which exchange artillery fire with the Ukrainian army.
The US State Department announced on Thursday that a third American was missing in Ukraine, in addition to two former US servicemen who were reportedly captured by Russian troops. The United States on Thursday urged Russia to consider any American volunteer fighter captured in Ukraine as a prisoner of war and to guarantee them humane treatment.
Russia has “already lost strategically” its war in Ukraine and “will never take control” of the country, said British Chief of Defense Staff Admiral Tony Radakin. “President Putin has used 25% of the power of his army to reap tiny territorial gains,” said the soldier in remarks reported by the British agency PA on Friday.