Russia-Ukraine war, thirteen Russian warships in the Black Sea. One has eight Kalibr-type cruise missiles on board

«It is in Ukraine that the defense of the fundamental principles of international law, of the values ​​of Europe but also of the security interests of the French are at stake»: these are the words chosen by the new French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné while meeting his Ukrainian colleague Dmytro Kuleba in Kiev, the first stage abroad of his new role at the helm of Paris diplomacy.

The intention was to plant the flag of the Republique on the ground of international support for Ukraine, which on the contrary shows weakness everywhere. A concept also reiterated by American President Joe Biden, who is unable to get the new substantial aid package approved by Congress and according to whom, «if Republican colleagues do not release aid to Ukraine, they will find themselves with a very high price to pay ». Kiev struggles to make itself heard in this context, also overshadowed by the war in Gaza, and to reiterate that the principles for which it fights have not changed in two years of war, President Volodymyr Zelensky will return to be seen in person, the January 16 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he will give a speech – his first in a long time.

In any case, “Ukraine is and will remain France's priority, despite the multiplication of crises”, assured Séjourné, who also paid homage to the war dead in the capital of a country that has just spent another night trying to defend themselves from yet another hail of bombs from Russia: 40 hypersonic missiles, S-300 and S-400 ballistic missiles and drones, Kiev reports. At least 8 missiles, Kiev claimed, were shot down by anti-aircraft fire while 20 – and here is a new element – neutralized by the electronic countermeasures used by the Ukrainian defense forces. For once, the local media write, no deaths have been recorded, even if in the north-eastern region of Sumy 26 houses were destroyed and Poland also had to activate its defense systems for a short time.

The deluge of missiles that hits Ukrainian territory every night was at the center of the conversation between the foreign ministers of Paris and Kiev. And Kuleba took the opportunity of the joint press conference to reiterate his appeal to Europe to do its part in blocking the delivery, mostly involuntary, of Western-produced electronic components found in the remains of the missiles launched by the force 'invasion. Often – he recalled – these are components of washing machines, microwave ovens and other household appliances for everyday use imported from Moscow, used “not for washing or cooking, but to extract individual spare parts and then mount them on their missiles to kill Ukrainians”

. With his French colleague, Kuleba said he spoke about further supplies of anti-missile defense systems and missiles to Ukraine, about defense cooperation, about the invitation to more and more countries to join Kiev's 10-point Peace Plan and about next steps towards joining NATO and the European Union. As regards the Donbass front, where for weeks the Russian forces, at the cost of serious losses, have intensified their offensive pressure, Kiev claimed to have repelled several attacks in Donetsk in the last 24 hours where, having lost the town of Marinka , fighting is taking place in its vicinity. And the bridgehead that the Ukrainians have been defending and strengthening for months on the left bank of the Dnipro river, i.e. on the side of the Russian occupiers, and which has been fortified, has returned to the fore. A position defended by elite troops and from which enemy forces are struck. According to the Kyiv Post, Russian military bloggers admit frustration with the Russians' “failed counterattacks” to reoccupy that space.

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