Nearly two years after the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, exchanges of fire continue between the two countries. If Joe Biden is preparing to bring together the heads of Congress to relaunch aid to Kiev, Emmanuel Macron said he would go to Ukraine in February and that France would deliver new long-range Scalp missiles to this country as well as bombs .
Information to remember
⇒ Emmanuel Macron will visit Ukraine in February
⇒ Joe Biden wants to continue his military aid to Ukraine
⇒ Vladimir Putin met with North Korean Foreign Minister
New Russian attacks in Kharkiv and Odessa
This Tuesday evening, at least 17 people were injured in a Russian strike targeting Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, located in the northeast near the border with Russia, the regional governor announced. According to the latter, among the injured, “two women are in serious condition”.
Russian forces hit the center of Kharkiv with two S-300 surface-to-air missiles and damaged residential buildings, according to the government. Moscow regularly bombs this region, where the Ukrainian authorities announced on Tuesday the evacuation of 26 villages due to the threat of an assault by Russian forces in the area.
During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, a Russian drone attack also targeted the city of Odessa (in the south), according to the head of the military administration of the region, Oleg Kiper. The attack injured three civilians and damaged residential buildings, he said. For its part, this Wednesday morning, Russia said it had repelled an attack on the Russian town of Belgorod, on the other side of the border. “Air defense destroyed seven missiles and four Ukrainian drones over [cette] region,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.
Macron will visit Ukraine in February
Emmanuel Macron announced this Tuesday, during a press conference, that he would go to Ukraine “in February” and that France would deliver 40 new long-range Scalp missiles and “hundreds of bombs” to this country.
He also specified that France was “in the process of finalizing a security agreement” with kyiv, of the type concluded on January 12 between the United Kingdom and Ukraine over ten years, which he will announce during his visit. on the spot.
France and the European Union “will have to make new decisions in the coming weeks and months, precisely so as not to let Russia win,” he added.
Joe Biden to convene congressional leaders over Ukraine aid
Joe Biden will bring together the leaders of Congress – Republicans and Democrats – at the White House this Wednesday about his request, blocked for months, for additional aid for Ukraine and Israel, his spokesperson said on Tuesday. Thus, the American president will receive the boss of the Senate, with a Democratic majority, Chuck Schumer, and that of the House of Representatives, with a Republican majority, Mike Johnson, as well as other group leaders and committee presidents.
Joe Biden is demanding a total of some 100 billion euros to continue military assistance to Ukraine and Israel, to support Taiwan and to strengthen the resources of the border police and immigration services. Without a vote from Congress, the United States, kyiv’s primary supporter, will not be able to provide it with more military equipment or economic assistance.
Putin met with North Korean Foreign Minister
Russian President Vladimir Putin met the North Korean Foreign Minister in Moscow on Tuesday, a sign of the rapprochement between the two neighboring countries which has accelerated since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. North Korea, Washington’s great enemy, has also been accused by the United States of delivering arms and ammunition to Russia for its military campaign in Ukraine.
This Tuesday, the head of Russian diplomacy Lavrov thanked Pyongyang for its support for the Russian assault in Ukraine, North Korea being one of only two countries in the world, with Syria, to have recognized the Russian annexations of four Ukrainian regions in the fall of 2022. In Moscow, the two officials discussed the agreements concluded between their two countries, said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, without detailing what was in question.
Sergei Lavrov had previously indicated that the discussions would focus on bilateral cooperation, the situation on the Korean peninsula and the assessment of the implementation of the agreements resulting from the summit between Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un in September 2023 in Russia.