War in Ukraine: in Berlin, Macron and Scholz say their “full support” for the Ukrainians in front of the Brandenburg Gate

Thank you for following us, meet us tomorrow so you don’t miss any news about the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian journalists are being awarded a special Pulitzer Prize for their “courage” in covering Russia’s invasion of their country, the association of America’s most prestigious press awards announced on Monday. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), an international NGO based in New York, seven journalists – including three Ukrainians – have been killed in Ukraine covering the war against Russia since February 24 and the association is investigating the death of five other Ukrainian journalists to confirm that their deaths are indeed related to the exercise of their profession.

The French President and the German Chancellor expressed their support for Ukraine under the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a symbol of the Cold War and illuminated for the occasion in the colors of the country invaded by Russia. About 200 people were massed nearby, some of whom were draped in the colors of Ukraine and shouted “Mariupol”, the city in the east of this country largely destroyed by the Russian army.

The Ukrainian president thanked, in a tweet, his American counterpart who signed a military assistance law dating from the Second World War allowing to accelerate the sending to Ukraine of military equipment. “This is a historic step. I am convinced that we will win together again,” writes Volodymyr Zelensky.

The United States on Monday called Vladimir Putin’s claims that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “pre-emptive” “gross absurdity” and an “insult” to the victims.

“We don’t have the numbers, but we’ve seen signs of Ukrainians being taken from Ukraine to Russia,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said when asked during a press briefing. claims by the Ukrainian government that 1.2 million people were thus deported to Russia and placed in camps.

The President of the United States on Monday signed in front of the journalists a law allowing to accelerate the sending to Ukraine of military equipment. The “Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022” is “based on a World War II program intended to help Europe resist Hitler (…) and was supported by almost all members of Congress” American, notes the White House.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the guest of BFMTV. “Russia must simply withdraw”, believes the minister, who thinks that “Russia wants to intimidate us”. He also reiterated that France is not “at war with Russia”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday reported “progress” and “clarifications” after a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on “energy security”, as Budapest blocks an embargo project of the EU on Russian oil.

The meeting between the two leaders, which took place during a working dinner at the Carmelite monastery in Budapest, “helped to clarify certain points relating to sanctions and energy security” of Hungary, said Ms von der Leyen on Twitter.

Greece reopened its embassy in kyiv on Monday, “in a highly symbolic gesture” to support “Ukrainians and the Greek community” living in this country, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias announced.

The minister underlined that Athens “does everything to contribute to the resolution of the crisis in Ukraine and the humanitarian crisis and undertakes to participate actively in the reconstruction of the country”.

According to a BBC Russia reporter, Russian television was hacked during the Kremlin leader’s speech during May 9 celebrations. All the programs were changed with this message: “You have on your hands the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and their hundreds of murdered children. Television and the authorities lie. No to war. »

“Mass rapes, child murders, elderly murders, shootings of civilians, etc. So we can’t talk about brotherhood [entre l’Ukraine et la Russie] so far,” he continued.

The Pentagon believes that the Russian arms industry is struggling to replace the guided missiles used by the Russian army in Ukraine because of the embargo on electronic components that hits Russia.

The Russians have launched so many missiles into Ukraine “that they’ve run out of precision-guided weapons and are having trouble replacing them,” said a senior US official.

At kyiv’s request, the UN Human Rights Council will hold an extraordinary session on Thursday on “the deterioration of the human rights situation in Ukraine”, which has been invaded by Russia. This is the first meeting devoted to this subject since the UN General Assembly suspended Russia in early April from the highest body of the international organization in the field of human rights.

“It will take years, probably decades, for Ukraine to really be able to join the European Union,” explains the Head of State. At the moment, the EU can only “have an accelerated procedure to accept candidate status for Ukraine”.

The Head of State has arrived in Germany and is giving a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his first international trip. He returns to the war in Ukraine. “The challenge that is ours is to face the return of war on our continent”, explains the president, who wants “to do everything to protect democracy, to be alongside the Ukraine while protecting our peoples against the spread of war”.

The United States has decided to suspend customs duties on steel from Ukraine for a year to support the country’s exports. “Some of Ukraine’s largest steel communities have been among the hardest hit by (Vladimir) Putin’s barbarism, and the Mariupol steel plant has become a symbol of Ukraine’s determination to resist the aggression of Russia,” the Commerce Department said in a statement.

More than three quarters of Finns now support a candidacy for NATO, according to a new poll published today, a few days before the expected decision in Helsinki. According to the survey published by public television Yle, 76% of Finns (a record) want the country to join NATO, compared to 60% in March. Before the invasion of Ukraine, supporters of NATO membership in Finland had stagnated around 20-30% in recent years.

Pursue the integration of Ukrainian refugees or facilitate their eventual return to the country? In the choice of their reception arrangements, the Member States of the Organization for Cooperation and Development (OECD) have instead opted for “temporary” integration, according to a report by the Organization published today.

“The majority of countries have instead set up specific measures to assist Ukrainians in their most immediate needs, thus considering that their length of stay is in fact temporary”, writes the OECD in its report, despite “the ‘uncertain evolution of the war’.

In a much-anticipated speech marking the anniversary of the 1945 victory over Nazi Germany, the Russian president justified his offensive in Ukraine and castigated the “unacceptable threat” from the West. Analysis of his speech.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travels to Hungary on Monday to discuss with Viktor Orban “the security of Europe’s energy supply”, her spokesperson announced, as Budapest blocks an embargo project on Russian oil.

A landlocked country dependent on its oil purchases from Russia, Hungary is asking its European Union partners for guarantees for its supplies in order to agree to a sixth package of sanctions against Russia including a halt to oil purchases from this country.

Ukraine, supported by dozens of countries, is calling for an extraordinary session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to be held in response to “the war crimes committed by Russia” in the country.

“This initiative is supported by nearly 60 States from all regions of the world. Together we send another strong message to Putin and his clique of war criminals: you are isolated like never before,” Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Yevheniia Filipenko said in a video posted on Twitter.

In addition to Moscow, flypasts in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Samara were also canceled due to bad weather according to several Russian media. But is the weather really to blame? Explanations.

A gigantic ribbon of St. George, a Russian patriotic symbol, was carried by pro-Russian separatists through the destroyed city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine to celebrate May 9, which marks the victory over the Nazis in 1945. The 300-meter version was carried through the port city by a motorcade led by separatist leader Denis Pushilin, according to a message posted on his Telegram messaging account.