Joe Biden on Monday opposed a categorical refusal to the idea of sending American fighter planes of the F-16 type to Ukraine, whose list of arms assistance is growing to drive the Russians out of its occupied territory. “No,” said the American president when a journalist questioned him at the White House on the possibility of providing the devices demanded by the Ukrainian leaders.
As February 24 approaches, which will mark one year since the invasion of Ukraine, Joe Biden did not want to say if he would travel to Europe on this occasion. But he assured that he would go, without specifying a date, to Poland, a country which plays a key role in the response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The main information:
- Joe Biden refuses to send US F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine
- Emmanuel Macron “does not forbid himself anything in principle” on the possible sending of a plane to Ukraine
- Russian athletes under a neutral banner at the 2024 Olympics? Ukraine accuses Olympic Committee of promoting war
Moscow claims the capture of a new village near Bakhmout
Russia claimed on Tuesday the capture of the village of Blagodatné, north of the city of Bakhmout, in eastern Ukraine, where the Russian army has intensified its offensive and has been making slow progress for several weeks. The Ministry of Defense indicated in its daily press release that “the locality of Blagodatné had been liberated” after an offensive by “volunteer assault units” supported by aviation and artillery.
Volunteers are the Russian military’s euphemism for paramilitary groups, like Wagner, fighting in Ukraine. Moreover, the boss of Wagner, the sulphurous Evguéni Prigojine, had claimed the capture of the village by his men on Saturday, which kyiv had denied. The Russian army and Wagner have been trying since the summer to take Bakhmout, a city of 70,000 inhabitants before the conflict.
For several weeks, they have intensified their offensive to encircle the locality, taking the town of Soledar in January, at the cost of heavy losses, and the neighboring villages.
“Nothing is prohibited in principle”, replies Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron, questioned on Monday in The Hague about the possibility of sending fighter jets to Ukraine to help it fight the Russian invasion, cautiously replied that “nothing is forbidden on principle”. He mentioned “criteria”, before any decision, such as the fact that a “request” is “formulated” by Ukraine, that it is “not escalatory” and “not likely to touch Russian soil but to help the resistance effort” and that “it does not weaken the capacity of the French army”.
“By definition, nothing is excluded,” he said, while emphasizing that Ukrainians “are not making this demand today.” However, “it is in the light of these three criteria that we will continue to look on a case-by-case basis” the deliveries of military equipment, he added after having posed the same criteria for the possible sending of tanks Leclerc.
“It is according to the requests that are made but not according to the rumors that are made” that the decisions are taken, underlined the French head of state, specifying that the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksiï Reznikov, was expected Tuesday in Paris for talks with his counterpart Sébastien Lecornu.
Russian athletes at the Olympics? Ukraine accuses IOC of promoting war
Ulcerated by the possible participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral banner in the 2024 Olympics, the Ukrainian presidency raised its voice on Monday against the International Olympic Committee, accusing it of being “a promoter of war”. “The IOC is a promoter of war, murder and destruction. The IOC happily watches Russia destroy Ukraine and then offers Russia a platform to promote genocide” of Ukrainians, the adviser tweeted. of the presidency Mykhaïlo Podoliak.
“It is obvious that the money that buys Olympic hypocrisy does not smell of Ukrainian blood. Isn’t it, Mr. Bach?” Thomas Bach, the German president of the Olympic body.
The IOC, which had “recommended” at the end of February 2022 to the international federations to exclude the Russians and Belarusians from their competitions after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, has not yet decided anything and leaves to each federation the task of reintegrating them or keeping them apart. The Lausanne-based organization also “rejects”, “in the strongest terms”, Mr. Podoliak’s statement “and other defamatory remarks”, which “cannot serve as a basis for any constructive discussion”. a spokesperson told AFP.