President of the United States Joe Biden reiterated, during a telephone interview Sunday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, his support for Ukraine, according to the White House.
A few hours before, it was the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who had spoken with Volodymyr Zelensky, within the framework of conferences organized in Paris on Tuesday on the subject of the reconstruction of Ukraine. The Elysée has notably announced the participation of 500 French companies in these discussions, in which more than forty countries will also take part.
In Zambia, the body of the Zambian student, recruited in a Russian prison by the paramilitary group Wagner before being killed in fighting in Ukraine, was repatriated from Russia to Lusaka on Sunday, AFP journalists noted.
- Biden reaffirms to Zelensky his support for Ukraine
During a telephone interview on Sunday, the American president underlined, with Mr. Zelensky, “the United States’ continued support for the defense of Ukraine as Russia continues its assaults on critical infrastructure” in the country, according to a statement from the White House. This call comes as Russian forces target basic public service infrastructure, causing, among other things, power cuts affecting millions of people in the middle of winter. The White House statement highlights the American aid promised to Ukraine: 53 million dollars for energy infrastructure announced in November and an envelope of 275 million dollars in ammunition and equipment announced in December.
In a tweet, Mr. Zelensky said he thanked Mr. Biden during a “fruitful conversation”, adding that he “discussed the continuation of cooperation on defense, and the protection and maintenance of our energy sector”. . French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke on the phone on Sunday with his Ukrainian counterpart, in particular to prepare for the new support conference for Ukraine on Tuesday in Paris.
- 500 French companies gathered in Paris on Tuesday to rebuild Ukraine
This Tuesday, two conferences are organized in the French capital, at the initiative of Paris and Kiev, to discuss the reconstruction of Ukraine. In a press release, the Elysee gave some details on the course of these events, in which forty-seven countries will take part. The first, the conference “In Solidarity with the Ukrainian People”, will bring together international support for Ukraine to “respond concretely and in the very short term to its urgent needs to get through the winter”.
The second, the “Franco-Ukrainian conference for resilience and reconstruction”, will bring together nearly five hundred French companies to meet Ukraine’s critical needs, contribute to the country’s reconstruction, and invest in the long term in the potential of the Ukrainian economy”. President Zelensky, will intervene during the two events by videoconference, will co-chair the conferences alongside Emmanuel Macron.
- Zambia: repatriation of the body of the student killed at the front in Ukraine
On the tarmac of the Zambian capital’s airport on Sunday, a white hearse with windows adorned with small curtains revealed a coffin with roughly nailed boards and stamped with a code drawn in black marker and letters in the Cyrillic alphabet. Lemekhani Nyirenda, 23, who was serving a prison sentence near Moscow, was killed in September in Ukraine. The student at the Institute of Physical Engineering in Moscow was sentenced to nine years in prison in April 2020 for a drug case. The Zambian government last month demanded an urgent explanation from Russia about the circumstances of his death.
Two weeks later, the Wagner group admitted having recruited the young man in prison, claiming that he had voluntarily joined the group before dying “a hero” in Ukraine. Russian law allows a prisoner to be pardoned in the context of “special military operations”, Zambian Foreign Minister Stanley Kakubo explained at the beginning of the month, regretting the death of Lemekhani Nyirenda in these conditions.