US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Sunday that China is considering sending “weapons” to Russia. Earlier in the day, the French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced that France would deliver light tanks “from the end of next week” to Ukraine. Relive the thread of the day of February 19.
President Emmanuel Macron assured his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday February 19 that he would support his peace plan “on the international scene”, during a telephone conversation between the two heads of state.
Emmanuel Macron “reaffirmed his commitment to the 10-point peace plan proposed by President Zelensky and assured him that he would support this initiative on the international scene during the next diplomatic events”, indicated the Élysée.
They also “referred to the reminder made (on Friday at the Munich annual conference on security) to European partners and NATO of the need to strengthen and accelerate military support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people” .
For his part, Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed on Twitter “the continuation of a friendly dialogue” with Emmanuel Macron and confirmed that they had both spoken about “the implementation of the peace plan”.
Continued a friendly dialogue with 🇫🇷 President @emmanuelmacron . Touched upon defense cooperation & bringing peace closer. Summed up the results of the recent visits & discussed the upcoming diplomatic events, in particular, on the implementation of our 10-step #PeaceFormula .— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa)
- 5:15 p.m.: Three dead and five injured in Russian strikes near Kherson
Three people died and five were injured in Russian strikes near Kherson in southern Ukraine, according to regional authorities.
“On Sunday morning, the Russian army fired artillery at the village of Bourgunka,” the administration of the Kherson region said on Telegram.
Bourgounka is located 60 kilometers northeast of Kherson, near the Dnieper River, which acts as a demarcation between the territories controlled by kyiv and those occupied by the Russian army.
- 4:05 p.m.: China considering sending ‘weapons’ to Russia, Blinken warns
Beijing plans to supply “weapons” to Russia to support its offensive in Ukraine, warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.
“We talked about the Russian-led war and the concerns we have that China is planning to provide lethal support to Russia,” he said on CBS. Asked what this would imply concretely, the head of American diplomacy replied: “Mainly weapons”.
Earlier, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wang Yi, for his part, urged the Americans to repair the damage caused by the indiscriminate use of force in the China-US relationship.
- 2:07 p.m .: Kadyrov plans to create his own private military company
Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Chechnya, said he was considering one day setting up his own private military company in the style of the Wagner Group , headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“When my service to the state is over, I seriously plan to compete with our dear brother Yevgeny Prigozhin and create a private military company. I think everything will go well,” said Ramzan Kadyrov, an ally of the Russian president. , Vladimir Putin, on social networks.
- 11:51 am: light tanks delivered by France to Ukraine “from the end of next week”, according to the Minister of the Armed Forces
AMX-10 light combat tanks will be delivered “from the end of next week” to Ukraine, announced the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, in an interview with Le Parisien, without specifying the number. These deliveries will thus coincide with the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on February 24, 2022.
At the beginning of January, the French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced the decision to send these tanks, as part of an upgrade of the equipment delivered by NATO to Ukraine, after long months of reluctance for fear of push Moscow to escalation.
- 10:58 a.m .: Moscow denounces Macron’s comments on Russia
Russia has denounced the comments made by Emmanuel Macron in the French press. The president said he wanted “the defeat” of Moscow against Ukraine while declaring that he wanted to prevent Russia from being “crushed”.
Maria Zakharova, the Kremlin spokeswoman, referred to the defeat of Napoleon I during his campaign in Russia. “France did not begin with Macron, and the remains of Napoleon, revered at the state level, rest in the center of Paris,” she said, adding that Emmanuel Macron’s word had no “little worth”.
- 9:43 a.m .: Josep Borrell wants to “increase and accelerate” EU military support for Ukraine
European Foreign Minister Josep Borrell said the West should provide more military aid to Ukraine and speed up its deliveries. “Much more needs to be done and much faster. There is still a lot to do. We must increase and accelerate our military support,” Josep Borrell said in a speech on the final day of the Munich Security Conference.
- 5:41 a.m .: Blinken warns China against helping Russia in Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi that there would be consequences if China provided “material support” for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, during a interview after a bilateral meeting in Washington.
- 9:40 p.m .: “We are at a crucial moment, everything must be done so that Russia is defeated”, according to the Polish Prime Minister
On the sidelines of the Munich Conference this weekend, the Polish Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, granted an interview to France 24. Questioned by Marc Perelman, the Polish head of government broached the question of the war in Ukraine. He declares that he is afraid that Russia will attack other states on its borders, such as the Baltic States, for example, and calls on Europe to protect itself against this by arming itself more.
Mateusz Morawiecki also mentioned the upcoming visit of US President Joe Biden to Poland to mark the first anniversary of the Ukrainian conflict.
- 8:37 p.m .: Emmanuel Macron says he wants “the defeat” of Russia, but without “crushing” it
Emmanuel Macron claimed to want “defeat” for Moscow against Ukraine, while warning those who want “above all to crush Russia”, which will “never” be the “position of France”.
“I am convinced that in the end, it will not be concluded militarily,” he said in an interview with Journal du Dimanche, Le Figaro and France Inter, published on Saturday evening. He also believes that “all the options other than Vladimir Putin within the current system” seem to him “worse” than the Russian president.
Source : France 24