Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening at 7:30 p.m. Who did what ? Who said what? Where are we ? The answer below:
news of the day
While they have been bogged down for days, the talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul seem to have finally borne their first fruits. Indeed, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin declared that “military activity in the direction of kyiv and Cherniguiv” would be “radically” reduced. Russia would have taken this decision considering that “the negotiations on an agreement on the neutrality and the non-nuclear status of Ukraine” were on the right track.
After three hours of discussions at the Dolmabahçe Palace, the head of the Russian delegation and representative of the Kremlin, Vladimir Medinski, for his part, reported “substantial discussions” and said that kyiv’s “clear” proposals would be “studied very soon and submitted to President Vladimir Putin. He estimated that a summit between the latter and his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky would be possible in the event of an agreement – a request from kyiv that Moscow had always rejected.
Same optimism on the Ukrainian side. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, also said the results of the meeting were “sufficient” to consider a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. The negotiators, however, are asking for an “international agreement” guaranteeing the security of the country.
The phrase
The conditions are not met at this stage
Emmanuel Macron spoke with Vladimir Putin on the phone to present him with a plan for the evacuation of civilians from the city of Mariupol, besieged by the Russian army. Unfortunately, faced with the reaction of its Russian counterpart, the Elysée could only recognize that the conditions for launching this operation in the coming days “are not met at this stage”.
The number
9. Nine people were killed and 28 others injured in the Russian missile strike that literally gutted the imposing building of the Mykolaiv regional administration in the morning.
The trend of the day
The progress of the talks seems to have given new hope to the markets. The companies most exposed to Russia have seen their share prices jump, such as Renault (+10.16%), Société Générale (+7.68%) and Alstom (+6.62%). Currencies are not left out with the ruble at +10.5% and the euro at +1.2%. The European stock markets ended up sharply: Paris +3.08% and Frankfurt +2.79%.
Washington nevertheless remains suspicious, still doubting the “real seriousness” of Russia in the negotiations, while Joe Biden spoke by telephone today with the various European leaders. The British government is also on its guard and has warned Russia that it will judge it “by its actions, not its words”.