Russia and Ukraine have agreed to stop hostilities in the Black Sea, the United States said on Tuesday March 25, Washington saying that he is ready to help Moscow exports its agricultural and fertilizer products on the world markets. For France, if it is “not in the right direction”, they are insufficient to hope for a complete ceasefire. Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to receive this Wednesday evening the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, before a new summit Thursday in Paris devoted to the Ukrainian issue.
Info to remember
⇒ The agreements announced go “in the right direction” but are not sufficient, according to the Elysée Palace
⇒ Emmanuel Macron receives this evening Volodymyr Zelensky before the summit of the “volunteer coalition”
⇒ Estonia warns against the “ascendant” of Vladimir Putin in the negotiations on Ukraine
8:25 am
Estonia votes on a restriction of the right to vote for Russian residents
The Estonian Parliament will vote this Wednesday on an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting non-European citizens from participating in the local elections, a measure particularly aimed at the strong Russian-speaking minority of Estonia. The ballot responds to growing security concerns in this Baltic country, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Various Estonian political forces have proposed to exclude elections from Russians and Belarusses but also stateless people living in Estonia, for fear of foreign interference. “If Russia had been, from our point of view, sensible, no one would have initiated this,” said Rein Toomla, a political expert at the Johan Skytte Institute. “It is very clearly (an approach) against Russia and, in a way, the Russian citizens living in Estonia are victims because Russia acted in this way, not them,” he told AFP.
07:00
Emmanuel Macron receives Volodymyr Zelensky at the Elysée
Emmanuel Macron will receive this Wednesday evening his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky at the Elysée on Wednesday to “prepare” the tomorrow’s summit in Paris of the “volunteer coalition” ready to provide security guarantees to Ukraine. “The Head of State will say to President Zelensky that France will make the continuation and strengthening of military and financial support in Ukraine its absolute priority,” the Elysée said in a statement on Tuesday. The two leaders will make statements in front of the press, before a bilateral interview and a work dinner.
The Ukraine Summit scheduled for Thursday in Paris will aim to determine which countries will be ready to send a military contingent in Ukrainian territory in the event of a truce with Russia, President Volodyr Zelensky said on Tuesday. The summit will bring together 31 delegations and “will aim to draw operational conclusions,” said the French presidency.
06:45
For France, the agreements announced go “in the right direction” but are insufficient
“A moratorium on energy infrastructure or initiatives in the Black Sea are steps in the right direction,” the French presidency said on Tuesday in reference to the agreements announced by the White House on Tuesday, but are insufficient to lead to a “sustainable, solid, and even less the peace agreement” in Ukraine.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin has not accepted the ceasefire, the 30-day period” for his implementation, said an advisor to President Emmanuel Macron during a telephone brief with journalists. “We know what cheating and manipulation Russia has been capable of” Minsk negotiations on Ukraine in 2014-2015 and “we want to (in) to prevent repetition,” he insisted. Russia must make “strong, verifiable commitments, up to those that President Zelensky has taken for a full cease-fire,” he said.
06:30
Estonia warns against “the ascendant” of Vladimir Putin in the negotiations on Ukraine
Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Margus Tsahkna, visiting Washington on Tuesday with his Lithuanian and Latvian counterparts to meet Marco Rubio, warned with AFP against “the ascendant” taken according to him by Vladimir Putin in negotiations on Ukraine. “The question now is how long (Donald) Trump will leave (Vladimir) Putin to play his games,” he said during an interview on Monday evening, on the eve of his meeting with the head of American diplomacy.
The Baltic countries, which were part of the USSR and are currently all members of NATO, are very doubtful to bring together the United States of Donald Trump with Russia. For Margus Tsahkna, the main motivation of Vladimir Putin is not to reach a cease-fire, but to undermine the American influence in Europe and to relaunch its economy.
The three Baltic countries were first -row of the defense and support of Ukraine, a nation which like them was part of the USSR. Last week, these three countries and Poland took a new step towards a withdrawal from the international convention prohibiting anti -personnel mines, invoking the need to strengthen their defenses. Margus Tsahkna says he expects to see Finland, which shares a border with Russia, make a similar decision.
06:15
Truce in the Black Sea: the Kremlin poses its conditions
Moscow and kyiv have agreed to “ensure the safety of navigation, to delete the use of force and to prevent the use of commercial ships for military objectives in the Black Sea,” the White House said in two separate press releases on Tuesday reporting the discussions in recent days with the Ukrainians and the Russians in Saudi Arabia. However, the Kremlin has laid a condition that does not seem to be fulfilled: it warned that this agreement will only be able to enter into force after the “lifting” of Western restrictions on the Russian cereal and fertilizer trade.
Moscow and Washington will also “develop measures” to allow the application of the thirty -day truce in strikes on energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine, according to the Kremlin. Tuesday evening, he also indicated that this truce, discussed during talks with the United States, concerned in particular refineries, gas pipelines and power plants.