Volodymyr Zelensky said this Saturday, June 15, his hope of achieving “a just peace as quickly as possible”, at the start of the first peace summit in Ukraine which is being held in Switzerland – without Russia. “Whatever is agreed (at this summit) will be part of the peacemaking process that we all need,” the Ukrainian president said, adding: “We will see history being made at this summit.”
Information to remember
⇒ Olaf Scholz denounces Vladimir Putin’s desire to “dictate” peace
⇒ New American envelope for energy and humanitarian aid to Ukraine
⇒ Sweden says Russian plane violated its airspace
Olaf Scholz denounces Vladimir Putin’s desire to “dictate” peace
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz denounced, this Saturday, June 15, the demands made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate with Ukraine, believing that they amounted to “dictating” peace. “What we need is not a dictated peace, but a just and fair peace that takes into account the integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine,” the leader said in an interview on the public channel ARD, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.
“What he is ultimately proposing is to engrave an imperialist raid into the texts,” criticized the chancellor. Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday set Ukraine’s surrender as a condition for talks. He demanded that kyiv abandon its ambition to join NATO and withdraw its forces from the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, claimed by Russia. Olaf Scholz said Putin’s offer before the summit in Switzerland was also aimed at weakening public support for aid to Ukraine. “It is certain that this addresses the internal politics of different countries,” he said on ARD.
US announces $1.5 billion for energy and humanitarian aid to Ukraine
US Vice President Kamala Harris announced this Saturday more than $1.5 billion in aid for the energy sector, humanitarian assistance and civil security in Ukraine. She said the aid included $500 million in new funds for energy assistance. In addition, $324 million in aid already announced by USAID, the US development agency, would be redirected to meet urgent energy needs.
“This funding will repair war-damaged energy infrastructure, increase energy production, encourage private sector investment, and protect energy infrastructure,” Kamala Harris said in a statement. The new aid package, from USAID and the US State Department, also includes $379 million for humanitarian assistance, and an additional $300 million for Ukrainian civil security.
Sweden says Russian plane violated its airspace
A Russian SU-24 plane violated Swedish airspace near the strategic island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea on Friday and only left after the country took off two fighter jets, indicated the Swedish army. This incident occurs three months after the Scandinavian country became a member of NATO, after two centuries of neutrality and then military non-alignment.
“On Friday afternoon, an SU-24 combat aircraft violated Swedish airspace east of the southern tip of Gotland. The Swedish Air Combat Command warned the Russian aircraft with a verbal call” , said the country’s armed forces in a statement released this Saturday. “As the warning was not heeded and the plane did not deviate from its route, it was expelled from Swedish airspace by two JAS-39 Gripen (fighter jets),” according to the text, which also specifies that the violation was “brief”.
Ukraine and Moldova: EU “agreement in principle” to launch accession negotiations on June 25
The ambassadors of the 27 countries of the European Union gave their “agreement in principle” on Friday to the opening of formal accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova, which will begin on June 25, the Belgian presidency announced. of the Council of the EU. This decision must be formally validated at a meeting of European ministers on June 21. And in the Netherlands, approval by Parliament is necessary.
The President of the European Council Charles Michel welcomed this step. “We keep our promises and we will support you along the path towards accession,” he said to these two countries, on the social network The European Union had opened the way for such accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova in mid-December 2023. But Hungary had until then slowed down the formal opening of negotiations with Ukraine, judging that the conditions were not reunited. The European Commission, for its part, estimated on June 7 that Ukraine and Moldova had fulfilled all the prerequisites for opening formal negotiations.
According to Putin, 700,000 Russian soldiers are fighting in Ukraine
“We have almost 700,000 troops in the zone of the special military operation,” Vladimir Putin said, using the official term for the armed operation launched in February 2022, on Friday during a televised meeting with decorated soldiers for their feats of arms. The Russian president gave in December the number of 617,000 men involved in the operation.