Russian pressure remains strong in eastern Ukraine, by kyiv’s own admission, convinced of victory after setbacks from the opponent on the battlefield, and accompanied by a victory in Eurovision giving balm to the heart of the country at war.
“The situation in the Donbass remains very difficult. The Russian troops are trying to obtain at least one victory there,” acknowledged the Ukrainian president on Saturday May 14. “Little by little, we are forcing the occupiers to leave our lands.”
On the Moscow side, Vladimir Putin sees Finland’s NATO membership project as “a mistake”.
- Ukraine wins Eurovision
Ukraine won the Eurovision Song Contest in Italy on Saturday evening, ahead of the United Kingdom and Spain, thanks to the vote of viewers who voted for the group representing the country invaded at the end of February by Russian troops.
The group Kalush Orchestra, whose song “Stefania” mixes hip-hop and traditional music, collected 631 points. Favorites of the competition, the Ukrainians are ahead of the Briton Sam Ryder and his title “Space Man” (466 points) and the Spaniard Chanel with “Slo Mo” (459 points). “Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe”, reacted the Ukrainian president on Facebook.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said on Sunday that the Ukrainian group’s triumph on Saturday evening in Turin shows “the immense public support” enjoyed by Ukraine under attack from Russia.
- Zelensky meets in kyiv with the leader of the US Republican senators
The Ukrainian head of state welcomed a delegation of American parliamentarians to kyiv led by Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republican minority in the American Senate, according to a press release published on Saturday by the Ukrainian presidency.
“I look forward to American support for new sanctions. In addition, we believe that Russia should be officially recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism,” Volodymyr Zelensky said during their meeting, quoted in the press release.
He also thanked “the United States for its leadership in supporting Ukraine”, saying that it was not only protecting his country “but also democratic values and freedoms, the right of nations to freely choose their future”. .
- NATO: Finland informs Putin of its membership project, a “mistake” for Moscow
Trying to “avoid tensions”, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö informed his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Saturday of his country’s imminent candidacy for NATO, a historic swing described as a “mistake” by the master of the Kremlin . “The conversation was direct and straightforward and went without annoyance. Avoiding tension was considered important,” said the Finnish head of state, a very regular interlocutor with the Russian president in recent years.
According to Moscow, Vladimir Putin told him that seeing Finland end its long policy of military non-alignment “would be a mistake, since there is no threat to Finland’s security”. The Nordic country must formalize its candidacy for NATO this Sunday, before a decisive meeting of the ruling party in Sweden with a view to a probable joint application for membership of the two countries.
- kyiv renames Soviet monument ‘Ukrainian People’s Ark of Freedom’
The Arch of Friendship of Peoples, an emblematic Soviet monument in downtown kyiv, became the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People on Saturday, following a decision to that effect by the city council.
“Today the city council decided to ‘decommunize’ the name of the Arch of Friendship of Peoples. From now on it will be the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People”, announced on Telegram messaging the mayor of the capital, Vitali Klitschko. The municipal elected officials have also “approved a list of more than 40 monuments and memorial emblems which must be removed from the streets and buildings of the capital to be transmitted to the museum of totalitarianism”, he commented.