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 essential part of this Saturday, December 7, 2024, the 1,018th day of the war.
News of the day
A three-way meeting. The rumor swelled all day, the Elysée confirmed it around 5 p.m.: there was indeed a trilateral meeting between Emmanuel Macron, Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump, before the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.
Good news for the Ukrainians, as the president-elect of the United States had given bad signs about his country's future commitment to kyiv.
Today's statement
« “I am hopeful that we can develop a common strategy for Ukraine” »
Before this unforeseen meeting and the arrival of Donald Trump in Paris, Olaf Scholz was already more optimistic. The German Chancellor explains, in an interview published this Saturday, that he has “already spoken at length on the telephone with the future American president” and discussed a common strategy to establish a peace plan in Ukraine.
“My supreme principle remains the same: nothing should be decided over the heads of Ukrainians. I said this again very clearly to President Zelensky during my visit to kyiv at the beginning of the week,” Olaf Scholz said in this interview.
The number of the day
125.000. The number of soldiers that the Russian army would have lost over the last three months to take or retake 2,350 km2 of territory. These are the findings of a report by the Institute for the Study of War, published by the BBC.
Today's trend
Suspicions of sabotage, jamming of maritime navigation, signal shots against a helicopter: Russia is increasing acts of “hybrid warfare” in the Baltic Sea where the neighboring NATO countries must prepare for a long period of conflict with Moscow, according to experts. A Russian cargo ship recently carried out signal shots in the direction of a German helicopter, according to Berlin, the latest episode of tensions in this sea in which all the coastal states, with the exception of Russia, are now members of NATO.
“The Baltic is in a sort of gray zone between war and peace, where NATO countries must be prepared to face any form of harassment,” notes Nils Wang, former commander of the Danish navy. “What the Russian navy is trying to do is send a signal: we are here,” said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
