Germany asks Russia to withdraw troops, Putin remains firm

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Ukraine denounced on Friday the first telephone conversation in more than two years between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which it considers to be an “attempt to appease” Moscow.

“Conversations with the Russian dictator alone do not bring any added value to achieve a just peace,” criticized the spokesperson for Ukrainian diplomacy, Georgii Tykhy, in a press release, calling instead for “concrete and strong actions which will force him to peace, and not persuasion and attempts at appeasement.”

The Polish Prime Minister welcomed Friday that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a telephone call that nothing could be decided on Ukraine without the participation of this country torn apart by the war.

“I received a phone call from Chancellor Scholz who informed me of his conversation with V. Putin. I was pleased to hear that the Chancellor not only unequivocally condemned Russian aggression, but also reiterated the Polish position: nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Donald Tusk wrote on the social network

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had a “frank” exchange on Friday, “at the initiative” of Berlin, on the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.

On this occasion, Vladimir Putin told the German Chancellor on Friday that a peace agreement with Ukraine should take into account “new territorial realities”, thus calling for concessions from kyiv on the regions currently occupied by the Russian army.

“Potential agreements must take into account the security interests of the Russian Federation, be based on new territorial realities and, above all, address the root causes of the conflict,” according to a Kremlin press release summarizing Vladimir Putin’s remarks. during this telephone interview with Olaf Scholz, the first in two years.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine and negotiate with kyiv, during his first telephone conversation with the Russian president in two years, according to a statement from the German government on Friday.

The Chancellor called on Russia to demonstrate “willingness to enter into negotiations with Ukraine with a view to a just and lasting peace” and underlined the EU’s “unwavering commitment to the ‘Ukraine,’ adds the chancellery, which specifies that Olaf Scholz had previously met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Ukraine announced on Friday the arrest of an officer, commanding a unit of the country’s special forces, accused of having transmitted information to Russia on secret military operations by kyiv.

The suspect, a lieutenant colonel, had been recruited by Russia before the start of its invasion of Ukraine launched in 2022, then “activated” last spring by a Russian military intelligence (GRU) agent via his acquaintances in Russia , the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said in a statement.

Since the start of this war, kyiv and Moscow have both announced several times that they have arrested compatriots accused of spying for the other side. But the arrest of a military commander with access to secret information about special operations is much rarer.

The man, arrested “in recent days” according to details from the SBU to AFP, was accused of “high treason” and risks life imprisonment, Ukrainian intelligence services indicated, adding that they had seized means from his home. electronic “clandestine” communications.

A 16-year-old Russian teenager, suspected of acting “on the instructions of the Ukrainian intelligence services” was arrested in the Kirov region (central Russia), the Russian Investigative Committee said in a press release.

The arrest occurred when in exchange for “a monetary reward, he was going to set fire to two signaling, centralization and automatic blocking cabinets of the main tracks” on the Trans-Siberian tracks, according to the committee. “During his arrest, materials intended for the manufacture of homemade explosive devices were discovered” as well as “messenger exchanges with agents of the Ukrainian intelligence services,” the press release added.

Supporter of a non-interventionist foreign policy, Donald Trump promised, during a festive reception at his Mar-a-Lago residence, to “work on the Middle East and (to) work very hard on Russia and the ‘Ukraine’. Because “this must stop,” he added.

The current head of American diplomacy, Democrat Antony Blinken, should have “adequate discussions in the coming weeks” with his successor designated on Wednesday, Marco Rubio, regarding the transition, according to the department spokesperson. The 53-year-old Republican senator from Florida, known for his hostile stances against China and Iran, will be “a staunch defender of our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down in the face of our adversaries,” boasted Donald Trump.

At a time when his country is accused of sending soldiers and weapons to Russia, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered priority to be given to the “mass production” of explosive drones, a media outlet reported on Friday. State. The dictator also attended a performance test of this type of machine in a factory on Thursday, according to the North Korean news agency KCNA.

These explosive-carrying drones are designed to deliberately crash into enemy targets, acting like guided missiles. Experts believe that these drones may come from the strengthening of the country’s alliance with Russia.

Moscow and Pyongyang, communist allies throughout the Cold War, have in fact become considerably closer since the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

A “massive” Russian airstrike overnight killed at least one person in Odessa, southern Ukraine. “Odessa has once again suffered a massive enemy attack (…) According to preliminary data, one person died” and ten others were injured, including two children, Ukrainian emergency services said on Telegram. Photos released by emergency services show rescuers trying to put out the fire in a three-story building and caring for an elderly woman.

The deceased is “a 35-year-old woman who was sleeping near a window”, according to a publication by the mayor of this important Black Sea port, Gennadyi Trukhanov, on the same social network. According to the regional governor, Oleg Kiper, “an apartment building in the center of Odessa was destroyed, apartments caught fire, towers and around thirty vehicles were damaged” by the attack.

The European Union has in fact announced that it has, for the first time, financed the joint purchase of arms by the Twenty-Seven, most of which are for Ukraine. “This is the first time that we have used the EU budget to support member states in the joint purchase” of weapons, underlined the vice-president of the European Commission Margrethe Vestager.

The budget line is 300 million euros to help around twenty member states purchase anti-aircraft defense equipment, armored vehicles and ammunition, most of which will go to Ukraine, according to the text.

Like every day, the editorial staff of 20 Minutes is mobilized to give you all the information on the conflict. War in Ukraine was declared with Russia’s invasion of the country on the night of February 23 to 24, 2022 by decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This Friday is already the 996th day of conflict.