War in Ukraine: what to remember from the day of Tuesday August 23 – franceinfo

On the eve of six months from the start of the conflict, Moscow and Paris discussed the situation at the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant and a possible visit by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). For his part, Emmanuel Macron urged the international community to show “no weakness, no spirit of compromise” in the face of Russia. Franceinfo returns to the highlights of Tuesday August 23 on the front of the war in Ukraine. Long-term European support Europeans are ready to support Ukraine’s “fight” over the long term, Emmanuel Macron told President Volodymyr Zelensky Emmanuel Macron in a video message to the ” Crimean platform”. The Head of State urged the international community not to show “any weakness, any spirit of compromise” in the face of Russia. “It is about the freedom of all of us, and about peace in all parts of the globe,” he said. Warning Russia against any annexation of Ukrainian territory While pro-Russian officials in the occupied territories have raised the idea of ​​a referendum on annexation to Russia, as in Crimea in 2014, Olaf Scholz insisted “that no sham referendum or other attempts to change the status of certain parts of Ukrainian territory will not be recognized”. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also affirmed his formal opposition to any annexation. “We cannot allow borders to be changed by force of arms,” ​​he said, as part of the “Crimea platform” summit. Towards an appeasement about Zaporijjia? The head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov discussed Tuesday with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna the situation at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhya. During a telephone conversation, “they discussed in detail the situation around the Zaporizhia plant and the existing opportunities to organize a visit to the plant during an IAEA mission”, explained the diplomat Russian in a statement. Sergei Lavrov also assured that Ukraine continued to “bomb the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, as well as its adjacent area, which exposes the entire European population to the danger of a nuclear disaster”. This power station in southern Ukraine has been occupied since the beginning of March by the Russian army. It has become the target in recent weeks of strikes of which Moscow and kyiv accuse each other. Berlin promises 500 million euros of additional weapons to kyiv Germany will deliver to Ukraine for about 500 million euros of new armaments, part of which in 2023, said Tuesday a spokesman for the German government. Among the deliveries are notably three Iris-T air defense systems, “a dozen recovery tanks, 20 rocket launchers mounted on pick-ups”, as well as “precision ammunition and anti-drone devices”, detailed this spokesperson with AFP. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his government have been targeted for six months by numerous critics, in particular from the Ukrainian authorities, for the supposed timidity of their arms deliveries to kyiv.