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, January 18, 2025, on the 1,060th day of the war.
News of the day
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said this Saturday he was open to sending German soldiers to Ukraine if a demilitarized zone was established there to guarantee respect for a hypothetical ceasefire with Russia. In a newspaper interview South German newspaperBoris Pistorius also positioned himself for a defense budget “rather” at 3% of GDP, while Donald Trump demanded 5% for NATO members.
Sentence of the day
« The arrival of Trump is an “opportunity” for the European Union
»
The return to power of Donald Trump will bring “clarity” in relations between Americans and Europeans and offers the latter the “opportunity” to accelerate their common efforts, particularly military, estimated this Saturday Friedrich Merz, favorite to become the next German chancellor.
“Trump is very predictable: he means what he says and he does what he says,” said the leader of the CDU conservatives during a press conference closing a seminar of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Berlin.
The number of the day
3. Three people were killed in a Russian attack in kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced this Saturday. It was a ballistic missile strike, described as “heinous” by kyiv and a “retaliation” by Moscow, which caused these deaths.
-A previous report given earlier by the military administration of the Ukrainian capital reported four deaths. At least three other people were injured in the attack, while another nighttime strike on the southern town of Zaporizhia left one dead and eleven injured, according to local authorities.
Today’s trend
Russia wants to look the United States straight in the eye. This Saturday, the Kremlin affirms that the “special military operation” in Ukraine is basically an existential confrontation with Washington and its allies, accused of supporting in kyiv a government presented as illegitimate, neo-Nazi and hostile to Russia.
Accusations brushed aside by kyiv and its supporters, who believe that the conflict is caused by the Kremlin’s desire to keep Ukraine under its influence since the pro-European Maidan revolution in 2014, which overthrew a pro-Russian leader.
On the front, Moscow has slowly but surely gained ground in recent months, while the exhausted Ukrainian army lacks resources. This Saturday, Moscow announced that it had taken control of two other villages in eastern Ukraine, the latest territorial advance in its offensive.
Both located in the Donetsk region, the villages of Vremivka and Petropavlivka were “liberated” by Russian forces according to the Ministry of Defense in a press release published on Telegram messaging.
