The leaders of the twenty-seven EU countries and Volodymyr Zelensky meet this Thursday, March 6 in Brussels for an extraordinary summit on Ukraine, intended to build European defense after the spectacular altercation between Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president. In a geopolitical context completely turned upside down by the positions of the American president, the European Commission unveiled on Tuesday a plan to “rearm Europe” aimed at mobilizing some 800 billion euros, which must be discussed today.
“Faced with this world of dangers, staying a spectator would be a madness,” said Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening in a television speech of about fifteen minutes, during which he notably proposed a debate on a nuclear deterrence extended to European allied countries.
Info to remember
⇒ An extraordinary summit is held in Brussels on the war in Ukraine
⇒ Russia denounces Emmanuel Macron’s speech, “disconnected from reality”
⇒ Volodymyr Zelensky urges not to relax the pressure on Russia
9:45 am
Russia denounces the speech of Emmanuel Macron, “disconnected from reality”
Russia denounced this morning the discourse “disconnected from the reality” of French president Emmanuel Macron who warned the day before “the Russian threat”. The French president “makes completely disconnected declarations of reality every day and which contradict his previous statements,” said spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, quoted by the agency Ria Novosti.
9:40 am
More than 15 million viewers before the speech of Emmanuel Macron
Some 15.1 million viewers watched the television speech by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday evening on all the channels that broadcast it, according to Médiamétrie figures on Thursday. This represents a share of audience of 71.6% all channels combined, which means that almost three-quarters of the people who were in front of the television at that time watched the speech. It was broadcast on TF1, France 2, M6, TMC, LCP and the four Info channels (BFMTV, CNEWS, LCI and Franceinfo).
Traditionally, the most followed presidential interventions are those which take the form of an exceptional speech, as opposed to interviews or press conferences. In June, some 15.3 million people in total watched Emmanuel Macron’s television speech in which he announced his decision to dissolve the National Assembly.
9:30 am
Volodymyr Zelensky urges not to release the pressure on Russia
The Ukrainian president called on Thursday not to release the pressure on Russia the day after a hit on a hotel in Kryvyi Rig (center) in which are foreign humanitarian workers who “survived”.
“There must be no break in the pressure exerted on Russia so that it ends this war,” said Volodymyr Zelensky on X. According to him, “American and British citizens” members of a “humanitarian organization” were “recorded” in the targeted hotel.
9:10 am
France provides military intelligence to Ukraine
While Washington announced on Wednesday the freeze for intelligence sharing in kyiv, essential on the front against the Russian army, the French Minister of the Armed Forces announced on Thursday that France provided military intelligence to Ukraine. “Our information is sovereign […] With their own capacities, “said Sébastien Lecornu on Radio France Inter.” We make Ukrainians benefit. “
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAAVKGOROGY
8:55 am
Russia: 15 years in prison for having transmitted information to Ukraine on the Russian fleet
A resident of the Russian region of Krasnodar (Southwest) was sentenced to 15 years in prison for having transmitted information on the Ukrainian intelligence on the Russian fleet, the Ria Novosti public news agency reported on Thursday. Dmitri Lévine was accused of having come into contact with the Ukrainian intelligence service The body of Russian volunteers, a classified organization terrorist in Russia, before transmitting information on the activities and the deployment of ships of the Russian fleet in Novorossiïsk, Port of the Black Sea in the Krasnodar region, as well as photos of these war buildings. A military court found him guilty of betrayal and participation in a terrorist organization, according to Ria Novosti.
Since the start of the Russian assault against Ukraine in February 2022, convictions, accompanied by heavy sorrows, for “betrayal”, “terrorism”, “sabotage” or “espionage”, have multiplied in Russia. In addition, thousands of people have been sanctioned, threatened or imprisoned because of their opposition to this conflict.
08:40
Four dead in Russian strikes in Ukraine
Four people died on the night of Wednesday to Thursday following Russian strikes on Ukraine, according to a new assessment of local authorities.
Three people were killed and 31 injured in a missile shot on a hotel in the city of Kryvyi Rig, in the center of Ukraine, according to the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region, Sergiy Lysak. Fourteen of the wounded are in critical condition, he added on Telegram.
In addition, a man died in a drone attack on warehouses on the outskirts of Soumy (North), said the Ministry of the Interior. The previous assessment was three dead in total.
08:30
The 27 meet to deal with American disengagement
Faced with the Russian threat on the one hand and that of American disengagement on the other hand, the leaders of the twenty-seven countries of the European Union are today in Brussels for an extraordinary summit in Ukraine, in which Volodymyr Zelensky will participate. On the menu in particular, the plan to “rearm Europe”, unveiled two days earlier and aimed at mobilizing some 800 billion euros. “Europe faces a clear and immediate danger of a magnitude that none of us has known in its adult life,” said Ursula von der Leyen, in a letter addressed to the leaders of the 27.
“On Ukraine, the objective is to find an agreement of the 27, or almost,” sums up a European diplomat. “We will be able to move forward in any event. What is important is that Ukraine is supported.”