War in Ukraine: Russia at a peace summit, a grenade thrown against a military center… an update on the situation

Volodymyr Zelensky en visite en Irlande le 13 juillet 2024. MAXPPP – Brian Lawless

Tous les jours, Midi Libre fait le point sur la situation en Ukraine. Ce lundi 15 juillet 2024, découvrez les dernières actualités autour de ce conflit.

Zelensky not opposed to a peace summit with Russia

President Volodymyr Zelensky declared Monday his willingness to hold a new international summit for peace in Ukraine in the presence of Russia, which had not been invited to a first conference in June.

During a press conference in kyiv upon returning from Washington where he participated in the NATO summit, the Ukrainian leader said he hoped that"a plan" in this direction will be ready next November. A "conference on peace" in Ukraine was held on June 15 and 16 in Switzerland in the presence of delegations from 92 country, but without Russia, which considered these first discussions unfounded.

More than two years after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, in February 2022, participants reaffirmed their support for independence and territorial sovereignty of Ukraine while calling for Moscow to be involved in future talks for a "just and lasting peace".

"I think that representatives of Russia should participate in this second summit", Volodymyr Zelensky said. "I set November as a goal , so that we have a plan ready (by that date)", he added. A Russian Foreign Ministry official ruled out last week that a Russian delegation would attend a second summit, but the Kremlin was less categorical, stressing that it would not ;#39;at this stage there were no "elements" precise regarding this diplomatic initiative.

Volodymyr Zelensky has defended a ten-point peace plan since 2022, including the unconditional withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory, which Moscow refuses. Three of these points were discussed in Switzerland: food security, nuclear safety and the release of prisoners of war.

The Ukrainian authorities are advocating a second summit to examine a global plan, developed by specific working groups divided by country. A meeting is planned in Qatar at the end of July or beginning of August on energy security, Volodymyr Zelensky said. Another should be held in August in Turkey on food security, a third in Canada in September on the question of prisoners of war.

A grenade thrown at a military recruitment center

An individual threw a grenade during the night from Sunday to Monday against a military recruitment center in Bousk, in western Ukraine, police announced, full mobilization campaign to replenish the ranks of the army.

"An unknown assailant threw a grenade at the facade of the building and fled", without causing any casualties, said the police of the Lviv region in a press release, specifying that "the facade and windows" of the center of military recruitment had been "damaged".

The identity of the individual remains unknown at this stage, detailed the police, who said "taking measures&quot ; to stop"the author of the attack". Lacking men on the front, Ukraine has been engaged in a mobilization campaign for several weeks to replenish the ranks of the army.

But this comes up against the reluctance of many Ukrainians, who fear being sent directly without appropriate training to the front, where the Russian army is pushing in several directions. Since men of combat age have not been allowed to leave the country since February 2022, some are trying to flee Ukraine clandestinely.

Resentment over the mobilization has been compounded by corruption scandals in the military, including the entrenched system of paying bribes to avoid corruption. mobilization. Such a case of attack on a military building remains rare in Ukraine.

In Russia, conversely, dozens of attacks or attempted attacks against administrative centers or military recruiting offices have been reported since the beginning of the attack on Ukraine, and in particular after the announcement of a partial mobilization in the fall of 2022.

Heavy prison sentences, often exceeding ten years of imprisonment, have been handed down against suspected arsonists.