Kiev counter-offensive, negotiations on Ukrainian grain… Franceinfo summarizes what should be remembered from that day on the side of the conflict in Ukraine.
Combat operations in Ukraine continue. During the night from Thursday to Friday, Russia “attacked Ukraine from the southeast with 17 Iranian-made Shahed 136/131 combat drones,” the Ukrainian military said on Telegram on Friday (July 14). These Iranian-made drones have wreaked havoc since the Russian invasion began. Kiev claimed to have destroyed 16. Franceinfo summarizes what should be remembered today on the side of the conflict in Ukraine.
Kiev’s counter-offensive is “not progressing so quickly”
A military spokesman reported that within a week the Ukrainian army had advanced 1.7 kilometers towards Melitopol in the southern sector of the front. The Ukrainian armed forces “continue to conduct offensive operations” towards this important Ukrainian city under Russian control, Colonel Mykola Ourchalovitch said during a press conference.
However, given the resistance of the Russian armed forces, the counter-offensive in Kiev “is not progressing so quickly”, admitted Andriï Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration. “If we see something wrong, we will say so. Nobody will sugarcoat it,” he added. As long as Moscow’s troops are on Ukrainian territory, Ukraine will not negotiate with Russia, argued Andriï Yermak. “Our position is very clear. Even thinking about these negotiations is possible only after the Russian troops leave our territory,” the official said.
Erdogan is confident about a renewal of the grain agreement
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday expressed confidence in the future of Ukrainian grain exports across the Black Sea. “We are preparing to welcome Mr Putin in August. Putin and I agree on expanding the Black Sea grain corridor,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters waiting for him in front of the mosque in Istanbul. The Turkish president said he exchanged views with the Kremlin chief without saying when that call took place.
The agreement signed in Istanbul in July 2022 and which has already been extended twice, which sealed the birth of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, expires on Monday evening. Despite the war, almost 33 million tons of grain, mainly wheat and corn, were transported from Ukrainian ports last year.
Wagner fighters are “instructors” in Belarus.
Fighters from the Wagner paramilitary group have started working as “instructors” for the Belarusian Territorial Defense Forces, Minsk announced on Friday, three weeks after their failed uprising in Russia. “Near Asipovichy” in the east of the country, “training sessions are held with units of the territorial troops,” reported the Belarusian Defense Ministry, adding that these conscripts are learning, among other things, “the techniques of movement on the battlefield and tactical shooting”. “Wagner fighters act as instructors in a number of military disciplines,” the Belarusian ministry adds.
Berlin pledges long-term military support to Kiev
Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday pledged military assistance worth around 17 billion euros to Ukraine until 2027 to help it fend off the Russian invasion. After the United States, Germany is the second largest donor of military aid to Ukraine, the German head of state recalled during his traditional summer press conference in Berlin. “We have calculated that from the beginning of the war to 2027 we will probably spend 17 billion euros on arms deliveries from Germany or financed by Germany to Ukraine,” said Scholz.
In a German government document published on its website on Wednesday, military aid to Ukraine breaks down as follows: 2 billion euros in 2022, around 5.4 billion euros this year and around 10.5 billion euros by 2027. This support but also comes from Bundeswehr stocks from devices that are supplied by manufacturers, sometimes in cooperation with other partners.