NATO now able to mobilize 300,000 soldiers quickly…

The situation on the Ukrainian front is “tense” around Ivanivske, a town neighboring Tchassiv Iar, a town on the Eastern front that both camps consider strategic, the Kiev army said this Thursday. Russia is targeting this city with the aim of making a breakthrough in the Donbass towards Kramatorsk, the main city still under Ukrainian control in the region.

“Two combat situations are underway near Ivanivske. The situation is tense,” explained the Ukrainian general staff in a statement on social networks.

Soldiers in the area confirm very difficult clashes, with Ukraine lacking men and ammunition. “We need long-range things, more modern artillery, more FPV drones, more drones of all kinds. It is coming, but not in the necessary quantities,” Rouslan, press officer of the 41st brigade, told AFP on Tuesday.

NATO can now count on the rapid mobilization of 300,000 troops made available by its members, at a time when it faces the Russian threat in Europe, a senior Alliance official assured Thursday.

NATO countries agreed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 to significantly increase the number of troops that could be mobilized in less than 30 days. The responses provided by the Allies “well exceed 300,000”, the figure that NATO had then set, said this official, on condition of anonymity.

G7 leaders meeting in Italy reached a “political agreement” on the use of interest generated by frozen Russian assets. They decided to use them to release $50 billion for Ukraine, a White House official said.

This $50 billion loan for kyiv will be guaranteed by future interest earned on fixed Russian assets, which amount to 300 billion euros generating up to three billion euros in revenue per year.

In detail, the sanctions announced by London target four ships suspected of participating in the “ghost fleet” of used tankers of sometimes opaque ownership or without insurance, which allow Russia to continue to massively export its oil, as well as as two ships accused of transporting weapons to Moscow.

The United Kingdom announced Thursday, on the occasion of the G7 summit in Italy, a new wave of sanctions against Russia, targeting the Moscow Stock Exchange (like those announced Wednesday by the United States) as well as the “ghost fleet » of ships used to circumvent Western restrictions decided since the invasion of Ukraine.

“We are once again intensifying economic pressure with sanctions aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to finance its war machine. Putin must lose, and it is absolutely vital to cut off his ability to finance a long conflict,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was quoted as saying in a Foreign Office statement.

Russian television channel NTV announced on Thursday that two of its journalists who accompanied a Russian army unit were injured in occupied eastern Ukraine. “NTV correspondent Alexeï Ivliev, cameraman Valéri Kozhin and the officer who accompanied them were injured during a shelling by the armed forces of Ukraine of the village of Golmivsky,” indicated the channel, owned by the gas group of the Russian state, Gazprom.

According to the same source, they were evacuated to the town of Gorlivka for surgery.

South Korea said Thursday it was “closely monitoring preparations” by Russian President Vladimir Putin for an expected visit to North Korea, a neighboring enemy country with which relations are at their lowest. A senior South Korean presidential official said earlier Thursday that the Russian leader was expected to visit North Korea “within a few days.”

North Korea and Russia are both subject to heavy international sanctions and have strengthened relations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Pyongyang has been accused of supplying weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for technological support.

The itinerary of Vladimir Putin’s visit has not been revealed by either country. But the Kremlin told Russian state media last month that a visit was “being prepared.”

Swiss authorities noted on Thursday “as expected” the first cyberattacks linked to the Alpine country’s organization of the Peace Conference in Ukraine this weekend.

“These attacks are expected and there is currently no acute danger,” the Federal Office for Cybersecurity said in a statement, without attributing the origin of the attacks.

The foreign ministers of eight EU countries sent a letter to the head of European diplomacy asking him to limit the travel of Russian diplomats in the Schengen area, according to a copy of the text obtained by AFP on Thursday.

The free movement of holders of Russian diplomatic passports in the Schengen area without a visa makes it easier for them to “malicious activities”, while Moscow redoubles its efforts to sow discord within the EU, said the eight ministers.

Ukraine on Thursday welcomed new US sanctions targeting Russia’s war effort, saying they hit “where it hurts”.

“These measures hit where it hurts. We particularly welcome the severe measures taken against Russia’s defense industrial sector and its access to technology and resources abroad,” said the head of Ukrainian diplomacy, Dmytro Kouleba, on the social network

This is what Volodymyr Zelensky announced this Thursday morning

The G7 has made “very good” progress towards an agreement on using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine and leaders “hope” to reach an agreement as early as Thursday as part of their summit in Italy, the White House said.

“There has been very good progress in discussions between delegations to reach an agreement,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who accompanies President Joe Biden, told reporters. “We hope that by the time the leaders meet today we will have a common vision.”

Nine people were killed and 29 injured Wednesday in a Russian strike on Kryvyï Rig, the hometown of President Volodymr Zelensky, according to the latest report published by the Ukrainian authorities.

“Rescue operations are over. Nine people died and 29 were injured. Among the injured, there are 5 children,” Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on Telegram.

The United States again accused Moscow on Wednesday of having transferred Ukrainian children to Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, some of whom were put up for adoption. “It is despicable, appalling,” declared White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan in a statement, for whom “Russia is waging a war not only against the Ukrainian army, but also against the people Ukrainian”.

G7 leaders are meeting from this Thursday in Italy where they will try to agree on a mechanism allowing the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine defend itself. The United States, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are meeting in the luxurious seaside resort of Borgo Egnazia, in Puglia.

The countries of the European Union adopted an agreement at the beginning of May to seize income from Russia’s frozen assets in order to arm Ukraine, a windfall representing between 2.5 and 3 billion euros per year. The United States, however, wants to go further and has put pressure on the G7 to agree to a mega loan of around $50 billion guaranteed by future interest generated by immobilized Russian assets.

But many questions remain, including who would issue the debt and what would happen if the assets were released in the event of a peace deal.

Hello everyone. Like every day, the editorial staff of 20 minutes is mobilized to give you all the information on the conflict. From this Thursday, the week will be punctuated by intense diplomatic activity regarding Ukraine. The G7 leaders will indeed meet until Saturday in Italy, where Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited. The Ukrainian president will then travel to Switzerland for a “Conference on Peace in Ukraine” which will bring together more than 90 countries and organizations throughout the weekend, but without Russia or China.