Moscow responded to the announcement of sending Western tanks to Kiev with a new salvo of cruise missiles against various points in Ukraine, with the Kremlin denouncing the West’s “direct involvement” in the conflict. One of the targets was Odessa, the newly designated World Heritage City, where the heads of diplomacy from Kiev and Paris were supposed to meet in a bomb shelter.
According to the Kiev balance sheet, the Russian attack was marked by the number 11: that was the number of regions affected, as well as the number of dead and wounded. The Ukrainian army said it shot down 47 of 55 Russian missiles fired, “including 20 near the capital”. Also as a result of the attacks, power cuts were activated in Kiev and three other regions as a precaution. The aim was “to prevent major damage to the electrical infrastructure in case enemy missiles hit their targets,” explains the electricity company DTEK. Two infrastructures in the Odessa region were damaged.
In this port city, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba received the French counterpart Catherine Colonna. After a stroll through the historic center, which had been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site the day before – the organization hailed the “free city, cosmopolitan city, legendary port that left its mark on film, literature and art” -, the two found themselves in the unforeseen situation to hold the meeting in a bomb shelter, in this case the basement of the Teatro da Ópera, due to yet another attack. A cruise missile fired by a Russian Su-35 fighter jet crashed into the sea, shot down by Ukrainian defenses, the military command said.
“Thanks to a Russian missile, I had my first bilateral diplomatic meeting in a basement. The coffee was hot, grace!”, the French minister said on Twitter. Kuleba also called the meeting “probably” unprecedented. Both said they would discuss all topics on the agenda, including military and humanitarian aid to Kiev.
The most discussed topic is war tanks, after Berlin and Washington announced the shipment of Leopard 2 and Abrams. The Kremlin denounced the West’s “direct involvement” in the war in Ukraine. “In Moscow, we see this as a direct involvement in the conflict and we see it growing,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The French Foreign Ministry denied this view. “We have answered very clearly that we are not at war with Russia and none of our partners. The delivery of military equipment to Ukraine, which is carried out in the context of its self-defense exercise under Article 51 of the UN Charter, does not constitute complicity” said a spokesman.
Regarding the possibility of Paris also contributing with its heavy combat vehicles, the minister stressed that “currently Ukraine’s priority remains the acquisition of additional air defense systems”, noting that Defense Minister Reznikov had said so the day before. “I think we will respond to this request,” he said. The LRU and Crotale systems, already transferred from Paris, will be joined by the new SAMP/T system, made in Italy and France.
Without shying away from the issue, Colonna said a positive decision is “not impossible” but will have to be made after an assessment by the Defense Department that responds positively to two questions: provide “genuine and effective” support, taking into account taking into account maintenance, logistics and training deadlines; and not weaken its own defense capabilities. France has some 200 Leclerc tanks, 160 of which will be on standby and another 200 as spare parts. Le Point.
Canada is the latest country to indicate it will send the Leopard 2, after Poland, Finland and Germany announced it and others such as Norway, Sweden, Spain or Portugal were open to that hypothesis.
Source: DN
