Finland will become, this Tuesday, April 4, the 31ᵉ member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). A decision that strongly displeases Moscow, which already promises “countermeasures”. “This is a further aggravation of the situation. The enlargement of NATO is an attack on our security and our national interests,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitr Peskov told reporters. “We will carefully follow what is happening in Finland, (…) how it threatens us. Measures will be taken based on this. Our army will report back in due time,” the Kremlin added.
Emmanuel Macron is expected in China on Wednesday, convinced that Beijing remains “indispensable” in the face of the many challenges of the world, starting with the war in Ukraine that the Chinese position can, according to Paris, “rock”. Engaging in discussions with China two weeks after the meeting between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin promises to be difficult.
In addition, Russia defended itself on Monday against the avalanche of criticism over its presidency of the Security Council in April, assuring that it would not abuse this position.
Finland joins NATO, historic turning point for the Alliance
Finland is the 31st country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. After three decades of military non-alignment, the country, which shares 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia, joined NATO on Tuesday. A strategic turning point caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
After the delivery of the membership documents to the American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, guardian of the founding treaty of the organization, the Finnish flag will be hoisted in the courtyard of honor of the organization’s headquarters in Brussels in the beginning of the following day. -noon, between those of Estonia and France, in alphabetical order. “President Putin went to war against Ukraine with the stated objective of having less NATO […] He gets exactly the opposite,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday.
Finland doubles the length of the border with Russia from the US-led alliance. She obtains the protection of article 5, that is to say the commitment of collective defense according to which an attack against a member “shall be considered an attack against all members”.
Russian drones hit Ukrainian port of Odessa
The city of Odessa, on the Black Sea, is once again the target of Russian strikes. The Ukrainian authorities denounce, this Tuesday, the use of Iranian drones Shahed. Of 17 drones launched, the Ukrainian Air Force command said in a statement that the air defense system destroyed 14. “Damage” was announced, without further details at this time. “The enemy has just hit Odessa and the Odessa district with attacks from UAVs” (unmanned aerial vehicles), the local administration said in a statement posted on Facebook. Quoting the head of the Odessa district military administration, Yuriy Kruk, the statement indicates that the air defense forces of Ukraine are at work and warns of the possibility of a second wave of attacks .
Odessa was a favorite holiday destination for many Ukrainians and Russians before the outbreak of the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In January, Unesco placed the historic center of Odessa on the list of World Heritage in Danger . Since the beginning of the conflict, the city has been repeatedly bombarded by Russian forces.
A network of Russian trenches in Crimea, according to the washington post
According to the American newspaper, the washington post, the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014 is said to be one of the most heavily fortified in the war zone. Satellite images, provided by commercial space technology company Maxar, show dozens and dozens of trenches being dug, including around the small town of Medvedivka. “Passages are dug into the ground at angles to give soldiers greater firing range. Nearby are other fortifications, including deep ditches designed to trap tanks and heavy vehicles,” the paper said.
Mykola Bielieskov, a researcher at the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies, a government-funded research organization in Kyiv, told the washington post that the extent of the fortifications was the “best indication” of Russia’s fears of an upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Macron in China to talk about Ukraine and “reengage the dialogue”
Because of its proximity to Russia, “China is the only country in the world able to have an immediate and radical impact on the conflict, in one direction or the other”, estimated the Elysée before this visit. three-day state visit of the French president. And, on the Western side, Emmanuel Macron is, according to his entourage, one of the rare heads of state who “can discuss six, seven hours” with Chinese President Xi Jinping to plead the cause of peace, while China and the United States is shrouded in the scent of the Cold War.
But the anti-Western front displayed by Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in Moscow two weeks ago seems to have put these ambitions into perspective. President Macron will therefore seek “a space” for dialogue with Beijing for “initiatives” in order to “support the civilian population” of Ukraine, but also “identify a way” out of the crisis in the medium term, said an adviser with caution , in the absence of details. The urgency even seems to be to convince China not to fall completely into Russia’s camp by supplying it with weapons. Emmanuel Macron will tell Chinese leaders “that it is essential to refrain” from supporting the Russian war effort, warned his Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
An adviser to President Lula met Putin
An adviser to Brazilian President Lula met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 25 to discuss Ukraine, a source from the presidency in Brasilia told Agence France Presse on Monday. Celso Amorim, President Lula’s top adviser for international affairs, met with the Russian president in the Kremlin for an hour, according to this source. Celso Amorim also had lunch with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is expected in Brazil on April 17, according to the same source.
Lula formulated at the end of January a proposal, with still vague contours, of mediation in the conflict in Ukraine by a group of countries. The Brazilian president must present this project to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing on April 13. “To say that the doors are open would be an exaggeration, but to say that they are closed is also not true,” Amorim told CNN Brasil on Monday, discussing the proposal’s chances of success after his meeting. with Vladimir Putin.
Russia defends its presidency of the UN Security Council
“Russia does not abuse the prerogatives of the presidency. On the one hand there is the national position and on the other the role of the presidency of the Council”, hammered the Russian ambassador Vassili Nebenzia during the conference of press that marks the beginning of each rotating presidency of the UN Security Council. Russia took over the council presidency on Saturday under rules that provide for a change of presidency every month in alphabetical order of permanent and non-permanent members.
This situation has provoked criticism from Ukraine, which called it a “slap in the face of the international community”, and from its allies. The Presidency of the Security Council gives certain prerogatives in terms of the agenda. But as a permanent member, Russia already has the ability to get emergency meetings when it asks for them. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is announced to chair one of them on April 24, on “the defense of the principles of the UN charter”.
Paris Olympics: Macron’s word “important” regarding the participation of Russians
“The IOC is the decision-maker, but the IOC also engages in a whole series of consultations and the word of the head of state of the host country is obviously important in the context of these consultations,” said French sports minister Amélie. Oudéa-Castéra to some media, including AFP, during a trip to Nice for the launch of the “Olympic and Paralympic week”. “On this subject, we must all be resolutely around Ukraine at the same time, on the other hand we know that there is a UN principle of non-discrimination against people on the basis of their nationality or their passport. “, further underlined Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.
Last Tuesday, the IOC recommended the reinstatement of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions, under many conditions, in particular neutrality, specifying that it would decide “at the appropriate time” on their participation in the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Thursday, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra had declared that this recommendation of the IOC does not “prejudge (has) anything” of their presence at the Paris Olympics.
US journalist arrested in Russia appeals his detention
The defense of American journalist Evan Gershkovich, arrested in Russia last week on charges of “espionage” which he rejects, appealed on Monday against his detention, a Moscow court said. “It is the same lawyer (officially assigned) who represented Gershkovich during his arrest who appealed,” said a spokeswoman for the Moscow court in Lefortovo. “The date of the hearing concerning the appeal of the detention will be announced this week”, she added, specifying that the request would be examined by another court, of higher instance.
Alexei Melnikov, secretary general of the Moscow public commission for monitoring places of detention, told him that he had visited the journalist, detained in Lefortovo prison. He claimed on Telegram that Evan Gershkovich had made “no complaints” about his conditions of detention. “At the time of the visit, he was cheerful and joked a lot during the conversation,” he added. Evan Gershkovich, Russian correspondent for the prestigious American daily Wall Street Journal and former AFP journalist in Moscow, was placed in pre-trial detention last Thursday until at least May 29.