The war on the ground, the negotiations in the chancelleries. Ukraine was approaching the status of candidate for the European Union on Friday June 17, while its soldiers are fighting fiercely in the Donbass (East), which the Russians want to take control.
President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Brussels’ support for Ukraine’s EU candidate status as “positive news” for the country as the key eastern city of Severodonetsk is pounded by the Russian forces. At the same time, Moscow is activating its energy lever by reducing its gas deliveries to Europe.
- The Russians consolidate their hold on Serpents’ Island
The Russian army has strengthened its grip on Serpents’ Island in the Black Sea, deploying several defense systems, suggesting that it does not intend to let go of this strategic point easily despite the threats posed by new artillery systems and Ukrainian missile fire.
The latest open-source satellite images of this islet off the Ukrainian and Romanian coasts make it possible to distinguish between different surface-to-air defense systems. The Russians have also installed them on ships positioned nearby to further strengthen the protective bubble. “The Russians have deployed several anti-aircraft systems on the island covering different threat spectra, SA-13, Pantsir, Tor, ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft guns”, notes French researcher Pierre Grasser, defense specialist Russian, associated with the Sirice laboratory at the Sorbonne.
- Russian public television broadcasts videos of two Americans missing in Ukraine
A Russian public television channel broadcast videos on social networks on Friday of two Americans who had gone to fight as volunteers with the Ukrainian forces and had been missing for several days.
US President Joe Biden had told the press the same day that he did not know where the two men were, Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, two former US soldiers whose relatives had not heard from them since last week. “Americans should not go to Ukraine,” he added. The US State Department has also reported information on the disappearance “in recent weeks” of a third US citizen.
- Ukraine’s EU candidate status: Zelensky hails Commission’s ‘historic decision’
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday hailed the European Commission’s “historic decision” to recommend granting Ukraine EU candidate status. “Grateful to Ursula von der Leyen and to every member of the European Commission for a historic decision,” he wrote on Twitter.
The Commission’s opinion is to be discussed at the European summit on June 23 and 24. The leaders of the 27 EU countries will have to give the unanimous green light for Ukraine to officially obtain candidate status. Russia, for its part, claims to have “nothing against” a possible accession of Ukraine to the European Union, assured Friday the master of the Kremlin Vladimir Putin.
- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits Kyiv again
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was again on the move to kyiv on Friday, a surprise visit which comes the day after that of four leaders of the European Union.
“I am delighted to see a great friend of our country, Boris Johnson, in kyiv again,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram. “It’s good to be in kyiv again,” said Boris Johnson on his Twitter account.
Boris Johnson had been, on April 9, the first leader of a G7 country to visit Ukraine after the start of the war launched against this country by Vladimir Putin, on February 24. London has since provided particularly strong military support to kyiv.
- Russia cuts gas supplies to Europe
Tap closed in Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, greatly reduced flow to Germany, Austria and Italy, and no more cubic meters to France: Europeans denounce a gas blackmail of Vladimir Putinwhile the continent wants to take advantage of the summer to fill its stocks.
In the fourth month of the war in Ukraine, Moscow presses where it hurts and plays on the energy vulnerability of Europeans, 40% of the gas burned usually comes from Russia. These proportions were even higher in the East: 55% for Germany, or 85% in Bulgaria. Gas is not lacking for the moment for most Europeans, in the summer period, because there is no need to heat the buildings. But the cuts come as countries must take advantage of the summer to fill their reserves, with the aim of filling them to at least 80% by November in the European Union.
- CERN announces the end of its cooperation with Russia and Belarus
The Council of CERN, a prestigious European scientific laboratory, announced on Friday “that it intends to terminate the international cooperation agreements with the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus on their expiry dates in 2024”, while standing ready to new decisions “in the light of developments in Ukraine”.
“The situation will continue to be closely monitored and the Council stands ready to take any further decisions in the light of developments in the situation in Ukraine,” the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which hosts, added in a statement. in Geneva, the largest particle accelerator in the world.
- Ukraine introduces visa regime for Russians from July 1
Ukraine will introduce a visa regime for Russians from July 1, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Friday, after nearly four months of Russian invasion of the country.
“Ukraine will introduce a visa regime for Russian citizens from July 1” with the aim of “countering unprecedented threats to national security, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state”, said the head of state on Telegram.
An hour and a half later, Prime Minister Denys Shmygal announced the adoption by his government of a formal decision on the termination of an agreement on the “visa-free” regime with Russia. “We are definitely breaking ties with Russia,” he added.