Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the main part of this Friday, the 996th day of the war.
Fact of the day
It was their first call in almost two years. Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Putin had a joint meeting this Friday and on this occasion reaffirmed their positions on the Ukrainian conflict: the German chancellor called on Moscow to negotiate “a just peace” and the Russian president insisted on territorial concessions from kyiv .
This exchange angered Ukraine, which saw it as “an attempt at appeasement” towards Moscow.
During this one-hour interview, Olaf Scholz asked Russia to show its “willingness to begin negotiations with Ukraine with a view to a just and lasting peace”, according to a press release from the German government. Vladimir Putin reaffirmed that any peace agreement should reflect “new territorial realities”, according to the Kremlin. This is the Russian position repeated for months. Russia is open to peace negotiations, but with “concessions” from kyiv: the cession of the Ukrainian territories that Moscow annexed in 2022 without fully controlling them. A condition deemed unthinkable by kyiv.
Even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had been warned of this exchange, the Scholz-Putin interview provoked the anger of Ukraine, which saw it as “an attempt at appeasement” towards Moscow. “Conversations with the Russian dictator alone do not bring any added value to achieve a just peace,” criticized the spokesperson for Ukrainian diplomacy, Georgii Tykhy, calling instead for “concrete and strong actions” to force Russia to peace.
Today's statement
« “We must return to a great country with a strong army. We must take care of our armed forces. We've done it before, we'll have to do it again.” »
The words are signed Donald Trump, the future president of the United States, just elected. Supporter of a non-interventionist foreign policy, the Republican billionaire promised to “work on the Middle East and (to) work very hard on Russia and Ukraine” because “this must stop”.
The current Democratic Secretary of State Antony Blinken should have “adequate exchanges in the coming weeks” with his successor designated Wednesday, Marco Rubio. The 53-year-old Republican senator from Florida, known for his hostile stances against China and Iran, will be “a staunch defender of our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down in the face of our adversaries,” boasted Donald Trump
The number of the day
One dead and ten injured. This is the number of victims of a “massive” Russian air attack that occurred during the night from Thursday to Friday in Odessa, in the south of Ukraine. “Odessa has once again suffered a massive enemy attack […] According to preliminary data, one person died and 10 others were injured, including two children, emergency services said on Telegram.
According to the regional governor, Oleg Kiper, “an apartment building in the center of Odessa was destroyed, apartments caught fire, towers and around thirty vehicles were damaged” as a result of the attack.
Moscow's forces also shot down 51 Ukrainian drones overnight, including 36 in the Krasnodar region (southwest), the Russian Defense Ministry reported Friday morning on Telegram. The governor of this territory, Veniamine Kondratiev, reported a “massive attack” which caused no casualties.
The Russian military has recently stepped up attacks on southern Ukraine, including damaging civilian ships at ports in the Odessa region, while Ukraine has stepped up attacks on military and energy targets in the regions controlled by Russia.
The trend
The British Ministry of Defense indicated this Friday that it had mobilized fighter planes from its fleet after detecting the presence of a Russian military plane “near” its airspace. The two British fighter jets were dispatched on Thursday to monitor a Russian Bear-F plane which was flying over the North Sea, the ministry said. Spotted in “the area of interest of the United Kingdom”, the plane however “at no time” crossed “the sovereign airspace of the country”.
This incident comes a few days after Russian military ships were seen in the Channel, the ministry added. The Royal Navy had mobilized several of the ships to escort them.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
Incidents involving Russian planes and aircraft from NATO countries have increased in recent years. Russian drones have, for example, been spotted in the skies of Romania, Poland and Latvia in recent months.
They often took place over the Baltic Sea but also in the Black Sea and elsewhere.
