The European Union, in a sprint, finds an agreement to provide urgent military aid to Ukraine, precisely at the moment when it needs it most. The permanent representatives of the 27 in Brussels have in fact completed the sudoku – the negotiations lasted months – and now a new instrument will be born, the Ukraine Assistance Fund, or UAF, an offshoot of the European Peace Fund (EPF) used until now to give weapons in Kiev. The budget has also been confirmed: 5 billion euros for 2024. We'll see then.
Meanwhile, new threats have arrived from Moscow. Russia has nuclear weapons that are even “more advanced” than the United States and, if necessary, “from a military-technical point of view we are ready” to use them. The warning, launched by Vladimir Putin in an interview on state television, is accompanied by a reference to Moscow's military doctrine, which allows the use of such weapons only as a response to threats to the “existence” of the State or its “sovereignty and independence”. And from the addition of never having thought of using tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine in 2022, denying news circulating in the USA. A reassurance that does not entirely convince our Western neighbors. Especially since Putin has announced that he wants to deploy his troops along the border with Finland, which has just joined NATO together with Sweden.
On the battlefield there has been a new attack by Kiev's forces against energy infrastructures on Russian territory. Three oil refineries, the Ukrainian Internal Intelligence Service (SBU) reported, were hit in Kstovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, and Kirishi, Leningrad region. The pro-Kiev Russian militias of “Freedom of Russia”, Rdk and “Siberian Battalion” have returned to the border regions with Ukraine and have invited residents to leave the areas of Kursk and Belgorod in view of possible attacks In the meantime, Moscow has made it known that it does not intend to participate, even if invited, in the peace conference in Switzerland called for by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, which could take place in the spring. In short, no one seems to take up the appeal of the Pope to raise the white flag, putting an end to the war.
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Moscow: 14 Ukrainian drones destroyed over Belgorod and Kursk
Fourteen drones were intercepted and destroyed tonight by air defense forces in the Russian regions of Belgorod and Kursk, says the Moscow Defense Ministry quoted by the Tass agency.
Zelensky,: winning means making democracy survive. We defend ourselves to avoid other criminals like Putin
“Winning in Ukraine, in this confrontation with Russian terrorism, is a question of survival for democratic systems, if democracies are worth anything.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote it on X. “When we defend ourselves, we can ensure that no other international criminal is tempted to launch aggression like Putin,” he added. “We can and must protect lives.”
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