Did you miss the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Between the strong declarations, the advances on the front and the results of the fighting, here is the essential part of this Friday, December 13, 2024, the 1,024th day of the war.
Fact of the day
She had announced a response. She kept her word. Russia assured Friday that it had struck Ukraine “massively” on Friday, in response to kyiv’s firing with American ATACMS missiles two days earlier. “In response to the use of long-range American weapons, the Russian armed forces carried out a massive attack on critical installations of the energy infrastructure” of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
No less than 93 missiles, “including at least one North Korean” were in fact fired, confirms Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian thermal power plants were “severely damaged” by massive Russian strikes on Friday morning, private electricity supplier DTEK said. “This is the twelfth massive attack on Ukraine’s energy sector” this year alone, DTEK added.
Today’s statement
« The statement fully corresponds to our position, and (his) view of the causes of the escalation is also consistent with ours (…) It is obvious that Trump understands what causes the situation to escalate” »
The words were signed by Dmitri Peskov, Kremlin spokesperson, this Friday. The Kremlin thus welcomed Donald Trump’s latest statement opposing Ukraine’s use of American missiles against Russian territory.
In an article published by Time On Thursday, Trump said he was “strongly opposed” to Ukraine’s use of American long-range missiles on Russian territory. “We are only escalating this war and making it worse,” he said.
The administration of President Joe Biden authorized the use of such ATACMS missiles in November, after having long opposed it, following the deployment, according to the West and kyiv, of thousands of North Korean soldiers in support of Russian soldiers.
The number of the day
16. This is the number of individuals considered to be Russian intelligence agents against whom EU foreign ministers will decide on sanctions on Monday, diplomats in Brussels said on Friday.
The EU and NATO accuse Moscow of carrying out so-called hybrid attacks, acts of sabotage, arson or even assassination attempts, to destabilize the Western camp and dissuade it from continuing its support for Ukraine at war with Russia. .
These announced sanctions consist of a freeze of assets in the EU and a ban on entry into the territory of the European Union for individuals. Europeans also accuse Moscow of cyberattacks and disinformation, particularly during EU elections.
The trend
European chancelleries are increasing discussions to be associated with the probable future negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, planning in particular on the hypothetical deployment of a military coalition to enforce a cease-fire. The chronic difficulties of the Ukrainian forces facing the Russian army have in fact imposed the idea that kyiv could, perhaps quickly, have to negotiate an end to the fighting.
A process in which Europeans, including the British, want to participate so as not to suffer an agreement prepared under the aegis of the elected American president Donald Trump alone. The latter has already called for an “immediate ceasefire” and warned that American aid to Ukraine would “probably” decrease.
Our file on the war in Ukraine
“The idea is above all to buy a place at the negotiating table. If Europe does not have something to offer, the negotiations risk taking place without it,” Elie Tenenbaum, of the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), explains to AFP.
But Europe is disunited, between those who fear a major war in the years to come (France, United Kingdom, Poland, Baltic countries, etc.) and, at the other end of the spectrum, those who extend their arms to the Russian president Vladimir Putin (Hungary in particular).