Five days after meeting in Paris with Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, Emmanuel Macron is in Warsaw this Thursday to discuss strengthening support for Ukraine. The Kremlin for its part affirmed that Russia would respond “obligatorily” to the Ukrainian attack the day before, carried out according to Moscow against a Russian military airfield with American ATACMS missiles, a red line for Vladimir Putin.
Information to remember:
⇒ Viktor Orban proposed a Christmas truce to Vladimir Putin
⇒ We must “find a path” that takes into account the interests of kyiv and Europeans, according to Emmanuel Macron
⇒ Russia vows to respond to Ukrainian ATACMS missile attack
Kremlin says Viktor Orban offered Vladimir Putin a Christmas truce
The Kremlin said Thursday that Hungarian leader Viktor Orban had offered Vladimir Putin the day before a Christmas truce in Ukraine and an exchange of prisoners with kyiv, which for its part denied having discussed this offer with Budapest.
“Viktor Orban, during his call with Vladimir Putin, proposed a major prisoner exchange on Christmas Eve and the announcement of a ceasefire in Ukraine on Christmas Day,” said the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov. On Wednesday, “the Russian side submitted to the Hungarian embassy our pre-request for an exchange” of prisoners, said Dmitri Peskov, stressing that Moscow “supports all efforts” at mediation by Budapest.
The Hungarian Prime Minister, who chairs the Council of the EU until the end of December, spoke publicly on the social network refused. “It’s sad that President Zelensky clearly rejected and excluded it today. We did what we could!”, he assured.
For its part, kyiv said it had not participated in any discussions on a possible Christmas ceasefire with Russia and on an exchange of prisoners. “As always, the Hungarian side did not discuss with Ukraine. And as always, Hungary did not warn (Ukraine, editor’s note) of its exchanges with Moscow,” lamented Dmytro Lytvyne, an advisor to the Ukrainian presidency, in a written message to the media.
We must “find a path” that takes into account the interests of kyiv and Europeans, according to Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron declared this Thursday in Warsaw that it was necessary to “find a path” towards peace in Ukraine, which “takes into account” the interests of kyiv and Europeans.
“The Trump administration has indicated its desire to try to change the direction of this conflict and we must therefore work very closely with the Americans, with obviously Ukraine to find a possible path, which takes into account the interests of Ukraine, its sovereignty and the interests of Europeans and their security,” he said alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
Russia will “obligatory” respond to Ukrainian ATACMS missile attack
The Kremlin affirmed this Thursday that the Russian army would respond “obligatorily” to the Ukrainian attack the day before, carried out according to Moscow against a Russian military airfield with American ATACMS missiles, a red line for Vladimir Putin.
“A response will follow: it will intervene at the time and in the manner that are considered appropriate. It will necessarily follow,” insisted the spokesperson for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, during his daily briefing. The spokesperson stressed that the Russian army had made a “clear and absolutely unambiguous” statement to this effect on Wednesday. The Russian Ministry of Defense, in a press release, had indeed indicated that such an attack “would not go unanswered”. “Appropriate measures will be taken,” he added.
Recently, in response to similar strikes, Vladimir Putin threatened to bomb decision-making centers in kyiv with his experimental Orechnik hypersonic missile, which can carry a nuclear warhead, and Western countries that help Ukraine attack Russian territory. Pentagon deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Wednesday that Washington considers it “possible that Russia will use the Orechnik missile in the coming days.”
The head of EU diplomacy wants to go further on frozen Russian assets
The new head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, pleaded for directly using frozen Russian assets and no longer just the interests they generate, in order to help Ukraine, in an interview with several newspapers, including The Guardianpublished Thursday.
The Estonian official stressed the importance of European support for kyiv while President-elect Donald Trump has hammered home his intention to reduce American aid to Ukraine as soon as he takes office next January. “If (the United States) cuts aid, we have to continue to support Ukraine, because I worry about what will happen if Russia wins. I think we will have more, bigger wars “, says Kaja Kallas. It is an “investment” in “our own security”, she argues. For the former Estonian Prime Minister, known for her firmness towards Moscow, frozen Russian assets are “a tool of pressure” on the Kremlin.
Since the Russian army launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has frozen around €210 billion in central bank funds, the vast majority of Russian assets tied up worldwide. Around 90% of the total is held by the international depository organization Euroclear, based in Belgium.
Death toll from Russian strike on Zaporizhia rises to ten
The death toll from the Russian strike which hit the town of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine on Tuesday rose to ten dead after the discovery of the body of a woman, the local governor announced on Thursday. One person is still under the rubble, added this source, Ivan Fedorov. Twenty-two people were injured during this bombing which notably destroyed a clinic and an office building in the city center, he recalled. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday condemned “a brutal attack” and urged the West to provide more air defense systems to Ukraine, including American Patriot batteries.