Situation on the ground, international reactions, sanctions: the point on the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Russian-Ukrainian talks are due to begin Thursday, at an unspecified time, in Belarus, “not far from the border with Poland”, according to Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky. The Ukrainian Presidency has confirmed that a delegation is on its way.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Western leaders were considering nuclear war in their conflict with Russia. “Everyone knows that a third world war can only be nuclear, but I draw your attention to the fact that it is in the minds of Western politicians, not in those of the Russians,” he said. said during an online press conference.
French President Emmanuel Macron again spoke for an hour and a half on Thursday with Vladimir Putin, then called Volodymyr Zelensky, the Elysée announced. Some 600 French people have left or are in the process of leaving Ukraine, out of the thousand who were still there at the start of the week.
In the field
Ukrainian officials confirmed overnight Wednesday to Thursday the presence of the Russian army in Kherson (south), which Moscow had previously announced it had captured and, further east, in Mariupol, the main Ukrainian sea port of Azov, “it is deteriorating from hour to hour”, testified one of its inhabitants according to which the city center was pounded.
Shelling in the center of Kharkiv, the country’s second largest city, killed at least 21 people on Wednesday, according to the regional governor, and further Russian shelling in Izium, near Kharkiv, killed eight people, including two children, according to local authorities. .
The Ukrainian city of Dnipro (center-east) is preparing to face a possible assault.
Nuclear
The board of governors of the IAEA, the UN nuclear policeman, adopted a resolution on Thursday calling on Russia to “immediately cease actions against Ukrainian nuclear sites”, endangered by the raging war.
Russia will pay for all the damage inflicted on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video, while promising to “rebuild every building” destroyed by Russian strikes.
Protection of civilians
“For the love of God, protect the civilians” in Ukraine and “let us do our job”, launched Thursday the person in charge of the humanitarian aid of the UN to the belligerent Ukrainians and especially Russians, in an interview with the AFP.
Martin Griffiths pointed out that, thanks to the generosity of donors, the UN had collected in two days 1.5 billion dollars out of the 1.7 billion in emergency aid requested.
One million refugees have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries since the Russian invasion began a week ago, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
European interior ministers, meeting in Brussels on Thursday, hope to adopt within “a few days” a status offering temporary protection to Ukrainians fleeing the war, but are divided on the reception of refugees of another nationality.
Sanctions
The financial rating agencies Fitch and Moody’s have downgraded Russia to the category of countries at risk of not being able to repay their debt, which will complicate the possibility for the country to finance itself.
The largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, that of Norway, estimated Thursday that the value of its assets in Russia had been divided by ten since the beginning of the year due to the war and economic sanctions.
Swedish furniture giant Ikea has announced the suspension of its activities in Russia and Belarus, affecting nearly 15,000 employees.
The promoter of the Formula 1 world championship has announced that it is definitively breaking its contract with the promoter of the Russian Grand Prix.
This article has been published automatically. Sources: ats / afp