In eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is now concentrated, the bombardments continued on Wednesday, killing at least ten people according to Volodymyr Zelensky. During a videoconference with his human rights council from the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin admitted that the conflict has been going on for a “long” time.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday proposed adding nearly 200 individuals and entities to the EU sanctions list against Moscow, including Russia’s armed forces and three of the country’s banks. “The eight sanctions packages adopted so far are already hurting (Russia). But today we are increasing the pressure” in response to the war in Ukraine, she said.
- Putin says Russia will continue strikes against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure
Russian President Vladimir Putin assured on Thursday that his country would continue its strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure, whose previous salvos caused massive power and water cuts in the midst of winter temperatures.
“Yes, we are doing it, but who started it?”, Launched Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of a medal ceremony in the Kremlin, presenting these bombardments as a response to the explosion which damaged the Crimean bridge built by the Russia and other attacks attributed to kyiv. He also blamed kyiv for having “blown up the power lines of the nuclear power plant in Kursk”, a Russian region bordering Ukraine, and for “not supplying water” to the pro-Russian separatist stronghold of Donetsk in the East of the country.
“Not supplying water to a city of one million inhabitants is an act of genocide,” he continued, accusing Westerners of turning a blind eye to these actions of Ukrainian officials. “On our side, as soon as we start doing something in response, the noise, the clamor, the crackling spread throughout the universe,” quipped Vladimir Putin.
- Nuclear risk: international pressure has pushed Russia back, says Scholz
The risk of Moscow resorting to nuclear weapons in the conflict in Ukraine has diminished because the international community “has drawn a red line” against Russia, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Thursday. “One thing has changed for now: Russia has stopped threatening to use nuclear weapons,” the Chancellor said in an interview with German media group Funke and West France. He sees this as a consequence of the fact that the international community, including China, “has drawn a red line” in Moscow on this issue. “For now, we have put a stop to it,” added Olaf Scholz, about the risk of a nuclear escalation.
The German leader believes in this regard that his recent trip to China has borne fruit: “During my visit to Beijing, Chinese President Xi and I jointly declared that nuclear weapons should not be used. the G20 countries have reaffirmed this position”.
After several nuclear weapons threats from Russian officials in recent months, Putin hinted Wednesday that Moscow will only use nuclear weapons in response to such an attack. He nevertheless noted that “the threat of a nuclear war is growing”, in view of the Russia-West confrontation around Ukraine, making the Americans and Europeans responsible.
- Putin is being irresponsible in talking about nuclear weapons lightly, according to Washington
The United States has described as “irresponsible” the “lightly” remarks of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who on Wednesday relativized the risk of recourse to nuclear weapons in the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian president had previously let the possibility of using so-called “tactical” nuclear weapons in Ukraine hover. At a meeting in the Kremlin on Wednesday Mr Putin said: “The threat of nuclear war is growing”, but remained evasive on Russia’s position in this regard. “Russia wouldn’t use them first under any circumstances,” he said, adding, “But if it doesn’t use them first under any circumstances, it won’t be the second to use them either. because the chances of using them in the event of a nuclear strike against our territory are very slim”.
Refusing to respond directly to Vladimir Putin, US State Department spokesman Ned Price stressed that “any light talk about nuclear weapons is absolutely irresponsible”. According to the spokesperson, nuclear powers around the world since the Cold War, including China, India, the United States, and Russia itself have been clear that “a nuclear conflict must never happen and can never be won”.
- US indicts ‘Russian agent’ for fraud and money laundering
An alleged Russian agent, accused of involvement in attempting to interfere with the 2020 US elections, was charged on Wednesday in the United States with fraud and money laundering in connection with the purchase of luxury apartments in California . “This Kremlin accomplice has been sanctioned for attempting to poison democracy, showing he is willing, and able to exploit the banking system for his illicit purposes,” Brooklyn District Attorney Breon said. Peace.
According to the American justice, Andreï Derkach concealed his identity when he bought in 2013, for 3.9 million dollars, two apartments in Beverly Hills, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. He had already been sanctioned by Washington in September 2020 for trying to “discredit” Joe Biden, then-presidential candidate, in the context of “foreign interference in an attempt to undermine the presidential election”. A wealthy and pro-Russian member of the Ukrainian parliament, Andreï Derkach is considered by Washington as an “active Russian agent”. Andrei Derkach, 55, faces seven counts of sanctions violations, bank fraud and money laundering, and if convicted, faces up to 30 years in prison. In June, he was accused by the Ukrainian government of supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and an arrest warrant was issued for him.
- Brussels wants to add the Russian army and three banks to its sanctions list
“The eight sanctions packages adopted so far are already hurting (to Russia). But today we are increasing the pressure” in response to the war in Ukraine, said Ursula von der Leyen. This ninth package of measures still needs to be unanimously approved by the 27 EU member countries. The new sanctions will be added in particular to the total embargo on imports of Russian oil transported by sea, which entered into force this week, and to the global cap on the price of Russian oil decided with the G7 and Australia.
Ursula von der Leyen proposed adding to the list of individuals and entities sanctioned by the EU “the Russian armed forces, as well as officers, Russian defense industry companies”. To these would be added “members of the Duma and of the Council of the Federation, ministers, governors and political parties”. These are, according to Ms von der Leyen, people playing a key role in the “Russian missile strikes” against civilians, “the kidnapping of Ukrainian children taken to Russia” or “the theft of Ukrainian agricultural products”. . Registration on this blacklist leads to a freezing of assets and a ban on entry into EU territory. Started in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea, this list already includes 1,241 individuals and 118 entities.
Brussels also proposed to sanction “three new Russian banks”, in particular by a total ban on transactions targeting the Russian Regional Development Bank, “to further paralyze the financial machine” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
- Norway: the son of an ex-close to Putin acquitted
Norwegian justice on Wednesday acquitted the son of a former close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Andrei Yakunin, prosecuted for having flown a drone in Svalbard despite the ban on overflight made to the Russians, announced his lawyer. Mr. Yakunin, 47, was arrested in October, accused of using drones last summer during a trip aboard his luxury sailboat Firebird around this highly strategic Arctic archipelago. He is the son of the former chairman of the Russian Railways Company, Vladimir Yakunin, sometimes described as a confidant of Vladimir Putin.
Like the European Union, of which it is not a member, Norway has banned Russian citizens and entities from flying over its territory following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a provision that it also applies to the use of drones. But “the (regional) court of Nord-Troms og Senja concluded in its judgment that Andrei Yakunin had not committed a criminally reprehensible act”, indicated his team of lawyers in a press release. “The court justifies this decision by the fact that flying a recreational drone is not covered by the sanctions framework,” she added.
- The IOC wants to “explore ways” to reintegrate Russians and Belarusians
“We need to explore ways to overcome this dilemma, about athlete participation, to return to sporting merits and not political interference,” Olympics boss Thomas Bach told reporters. This position of the IOC is not new, but Thomas Bach dwelt on it at length, without outlining avenues or deadlines: “this requires other consultations and they are in progress, so there is no date fixed”, he eluded.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in the middle of the Olympic truce, during the Winter Games in Beijing, the IOC has distinguished the “sanctions” inflicted on the Russian and Belarusian states from the “protective measures” concerning athletes, which are in no way considered responsible for the actions of their governments. “There is no change in our position. The sanctions must remain in place”, i.e. the prohibition of the flags of the two countries and the competitions on their soil because of the “violation of the Olympic Charter”, recalled patron of Olympism. But the banning of Russian and Belarusian athletes, “recommended” by the IOC to international federations at the end of February, has always been presented by the Olympic body as a measure aimed at protecting the integrity of competitions and the safety of athletes, taken “heavy heart” and likely to be reassessed regularly. “We had to act against our own values”, doing “what we had never done and never wanted to do, which is to prevent athletes from participating in competitions solely because of their passports”, recalled Thomas Bach.