In London, the chiefs of staff of around thirty countries ready to contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine come together this Thursday, March 20 to discuss a peacekeeping plan in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. The Ukrainian and European defense file in the face of the Russian threat are also on the menu of an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
Yesterday, American president Donald Trump suggested, in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, that the United States takes “possession” from Ukrainian power plants, saying that “would constitute the best protection and the best possible support”.
Info to remember
⇒ Volodymyr Zelensky will go to France next week
⇒ The Ukrainian president spoke with Donald Trump about American control of the occupied nuclear power plant Zaporijia
⇒ Military leaders of around thirty countries gathered in the United Kingdom this Thursday
7:15 am
Russia says it has shot 132 Ukrainian drones at night
Russia killed 132 Ukrainian drones above its territory on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced. Of this total, 54 drones were intercepted in the Saratov region, about 700 kilometers south-east of Moscow, and 40 in the neighboring region of Voronej, said the ministry on Telegram.
The attack caused “a fire in the air base” in Engels, and “the evacuation of inhabitants” of the houses located nearby is underway “for security reasons”, said on Telegram the regional governor Roman Boussarguine. She also made two injured in Engels and “damaged the buildings of two nursery schools, a hospital and a school,” the Russian investigation committee said, adding that he was going to investigate “criminal acts of Ukrainian forces in the Saratov region”.
07:00
Military leaders of around thirty countries gathered in the United Kingdom
The chiefs of staff of around thirty countries ready to contribute to security guarantees for Ukraine meet this Thursday in the United Kingdom to discuss a peacekeeping plan in the event of a ceasefire with Russia. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who strives with French President Emmanuel Macron to constitute a “coalition of voluntary countries” ready to contribute in one way or another, must address military officials.
The meeting will be devoted to the “operational phase” of the peacekeeping plan imagined by Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer. This meeting is held as Russian President Vladimir Putin posed as a condition to any cease-fire the cessation of Western military aid to Ukraine. Russia also rejected the idea of a presence of foreign troops in Ukraine as part of a cease-fire agreement.
06:45
Volodymyr Zelensky spoke with Donald Trump of American control of the occupied nuclear power plant
“I just had a very good call with the president of Ukraine Zelensky. […] We are on the right track, “Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social network on Wednesday. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had mentioned with his counterpart a potential American control of a single Ukrainian nuclear power plant, that of Zaporijia currently occupied by the Russians, and not several as indicated earlier by Washington.” Under Russian occupation “, that of Zaporijjia, said the Ukrainian president, visiting Finland.
The Zaporijjia power plant, the largest in Europe, was occupied by Russia in the first weeks of its invasion of Ukraine three years ago and security is precarious, making fears of a potential disaster. According to Volodymyr Zelensky, completely restarting the plant could take “two” years, or even “two and a half”, provided that Russia not only makes the site but also the nearby infrastructure necessary for its operation and withdraws its weapons from the area.
06:30
Volodymyr Zelensky will go to France next week
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that he spoke to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron “once a day” and announced that he would go to France next week.
“I have just spoken to President Macron, to Emmanuel. We often talk a lot. Once a day,” he said during a visioconference press point, which the French president interrupted him. Volodymyr Zelensky then added that he would go to France “next week” and that there would be “several meetings”.