During a visit by the NATO Secretary General, the Ukrainian President called for his country to join the Atlantic Alliance.
For the first time since the conflict began, NATO’s Secretary General has set foot in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his call for his country to join the western military alliance. Franceinfo looks back at the highlights of April 20th on the war front.
NATO Secretary General makes a surprise visit to Kiev
This is the NATO Secretary General’s first visit to Ukraine since the start of the war. In pictures published by the Kyiv Independent, Jens Stoltenberg can be seen meditating in front of a memorial on St. Michael’s Square in Kiev in honor of the Ukrainian soldiers who died in combat. He promised to discuss the issue of Ukraine’s membership at a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
Zelenskyy is pushing for NATO membership
During the visit of the Secretary General of NATO, the President of Ukraine made a request. Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Thursday, April 20, that “he [était] “Time” for NATO to welcome Ukraine into its ranks. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Western military alliance has shown its support for Ukraine, and its member states have provided Kiev with military equipment and weapons to fight the Russian army: Aid welcome but still deemed insufficient by President Zelensky.
New tanks will be delivered to Ukraine
“The Netherlands and Denmark today announce their intention to acquire, refurbish and donate to Ukraine 14 Leopard 2A4 tanks after we successfully cooperated with Germany on the delivery of at least 100 Leopard 1A5 tanks,” the Danish assures Department of Defense in a press release. The tanks will be delivered “early 2024”.
The European Parliament demands the release of Navalny and Kara-Mourza
The European Parliament has strongly condemned the “political” sentence imposed on Russian opponent Vladimir Kara-Mourza and called for his release and that of Alexei Navalny amid concerns about the “rapid deterioration” in the health of both men. The first, Vladimir Kara-Mourza, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Moscow court on Monday on multiple charges including “high treason”. The second, already imprisoned, Alexeï Navalny, has been prosecuted again since Tuesday.
Macron, Biden want to ‘keep engaging’ China to ‘end the conflict’
Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden agreed on the importance of keeping China engaged so that it “contributes to the end of the conflict” in Ukraine “in the medium term,” the French presidency reported on Thursday. The French leader, who spoke on the phone with his American counterpart about his recent visit to China, also reiterated his desire for Europeans to continue “arming themselves to shoulder their responsibilities in burden-sharing transatlantic security,” the Elysée said in a press release .