The international conference in support of Ukraine organized in Paris has raised almost a billion euros in donations to help people get through the winter in a country whose infrastructure has been ravaged by Russian strikes, announced this Tuesday, December 13 the head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna.
“Aid reaches or even exceeds the 800 million euros” requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the opening of the conference, declared Catherine Colonna. “In fact I am happy to announce that we have exceeded this figure and that we are closer to the billion euros,” she added during a joint press conference with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal.
Of this billion euros, 415 million will be allocated to the energy sector, 25 million for water, 38 million for food, 17 million for health, 22 for transport, the rest, nearly 493 million euros, not yet being broken down, said the French minister, adding that these were donations in kind or in cash. “Our country will not sink into the dark,” said Denys Chmygal, welcoming the “powerful signal” of support for Ukraine sent by “the civilized world”. “We are grateful to all countries that remain our allies in this dark time,” he added, pledging once again that Ukraine would regain its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The support conference for Ukraine brought together 70 delegations from countries and international organizations, and aimed to “help Ukrainians resist this winter”, explained French President Emmanuel Macron when opening the meeting. Russian forces have been engaged since October in a campaign of destruction of civil and energy infrastructure, depriving millions of people of heat and water. The war in Ukraine will enter its eleventh month at the end of December.
- IAEA to deploy missions to ‘secure’ Ukraine’s nuclear power plants
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will send missions to “secure” five nuclear power plants in Ukraine, including that of Zaporizhia, occupied by the Russian army, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Chmygal said on Tuesday. . “These missions are intended to secure these power plants and to record all the impacts coming from outside, in particular the strikes by the Russian aggressor”, wrote the Ukrainian official on Telegram after a meeting in Paris with the boss of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi. He did not specify a timetable or the size of these missions, while the IAEA already has experts in Zaporijia, the most sensitive site due to its proximity to the front and the Russian occupation.
According to Denys Chmygal, the IAEA experts will therefore be deployed in Zaporizhia, Rivne, Khmelnytsky, Pivdennooukraïnsk and Chernobyl, the famous power plant damaged in 1986 and which the Russians briefly occupied at the start of their invasion of Ukraine in February. “This will greatly increase the technical and technological security” of these sites, he said. Denys Chmygal also indicated that Ukraine’s priority was the “demilitarization” of the Zaporizhia power plant, the largest in Europe. Russians and Ukrainians have been accusing each other for months of pounding this site, at the risk of causing a catastrophe.
- World must rethink nuclear safety, says Ukrainian energy minister
The world must “rethink nuclear safety”, urged Ukrainian Energy Minister German Halouchtchenko, describing the risks incurred in Zaporizhia where the plant has already missed an accident five times. “This is a question posed to all the countries of the world,” he said Monday evening in an interview with AFP on the sidelines of a trip to Paris for a conference in support of Ukraine. German Halouchchenko comes both to ask for equipment to help Ukrainians get through the winter when more than 40% of the energy infrastructure has been demolished in the past two months, and to prepare for the future and reconstruction.
“We have plans for new plants, contracts already signed, and we will continue with nuclear because we have great experience and thousands of professionals,” he said. The country depends more than 50% on nuclear power for its electricity production, and there is no intention of giving it up. On the other hand, according to the Ukrainian Minister, it is urgent to review the civil nuclear safety manuals which, according to him, have not foreseen what is happening in Ukraine. “We have to consider military threats, it’s absolutely new, not just for us but for the whole world, we have to think about it together […] This war absolutely changes our view of nuclear security and safety,” he said.
- EU must ensure continued support for Ukraine, says Charles Michel
The President of the European Council, the Belgian Charles Michel, called on EU leaders to “guarantee the continuity of military and financial support for Ukraine” during their summit on Thursday in Brussels. The meeting will last one day. It was preceded on Wednesday by a summit between the 27 and their counterparts from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Charles Michel called in his letter of invitation on Monday for decisions to ensure aid for the millions of civilians deprived of electricity, heating and running water in Ukraine with the arrival of snow and sub-zero temperatures. “Beyond the country’s immediate needs, a substantive debate is also needed on how to ensure the sustainability of our military and financial support to Ukraine,” he added. The European Union has pledged to provide Kyiv with macro-financial assistance of 18 billion euros during the year 2023. An agreement on the terms of this support, which will take the form of interest-free loans, has yet to be finalized. . EU leaders must also secure their energy supplies to “anticipate the challenges of next year”, insisted Charles Michel.
- Compromise with Hungary to unblock EU aid to Ukraine
A compromise was reached on Monday evening to release European funds intended for Hungary, which made it possible to lift Budapest’s reservations on the granting of macro-financial aid of 18 billion euros to Ukraine in 2023 , announced the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU. “EU ambassadors approved in principle €18 billion aid to Ukraine, 15% minimum tax for large companies, approval of Recovery Plan (PRRF) of Hungary and an agreement on conditionality,” said the Czech presidency on its twitter account. “The package will be confirmed by written procedure,” she said. It will be launched on Wednesday, a diplomatic source said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban refused to give Hungary’s agreement to granting this financial aid to Ukraine if its recovery plan and the cohesion funds planned for his country were blocked by its partners. The agreement reached on Monday is a disavowal for the European Commission. The Brussels executive chaired by the German Ursula von der Leyen recommended freezing 7.5 billion European funds intended for Hungary, considering that the latest reforms adopted by Budapest to fight against corruption were still not sufficient.
- Russia appears to be using expired bombs
Moscow’s modern ammunition stockpiles are “dwindling rapidly” and may only last until early 2023 if Russian forces continue bombing Ukraine at the current rate, the senior official told reporters. anonymity. This is “probably what forces them to use bombs that we would consider stale,” he added. “In other words, you load the bomb and cross your fingers and hope that it will go away, or that it will explode on landing.”
The U.S. Defense Secretary spoke last month about problems with Russian forces’ ammunition stockpiles, which he attributed to Moscow’s logistical problems and strikes by Ukrainian forces against Russian ammunition depots.