Massively punish Russia to force Vladimir Putin to negotiate.
Such is the ambition of Westerners, in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which aroused an outcry from the international community, and triggered a diplomatic commotion with multiple emergency meetings in several Western countries. , but also to the European Union (EU), within the G7 and NATO, which meets this Friday.
To discover
LIVE - Follow minute by minute the evolution of the war in Ukraine, attacked by Russia
"Russia alone is responsible for the death and destruction that this unjustified attack will cause"
, denounced Joe Biden, shortly after the announcement of the invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin.
A
“premeditated war”,
according to the American president, who swore that
“the world would hold Russia to account”
.
At the end of the day, Joe Biden, who ruled out any American military intervention, was to speak again to outline the United States' response.
Read also
War in Ukraine: why Putin is no longer afraid of anyone
Before convening a Defense Council on Thursday morning, Emmanuel Macron had also
"strongly condemned the decision to wage war on Ukraine"
.
Moscow must
"immediately put an end to its military operations
," urged the head of state, after contacting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his mobile phone.
A few hours later, in a televised address to the French, Emmanuel Macron, with the Ukrainian flag in the background alongside the French and European flags, called for
"unity"
around
"the principles
(which)
made us and continue to hold us together”
.
"In these troubled times when the ghosts of the past are reborn and where there will be many manipulations, let's not give up any of our unity around our principles of freedom, sovereignty and democracy"
, insisted the President of the Republic, who involved a lot in recent weeks to avoid an escalation.
He promised that the sanctions, which will be decided over the next few hours by France and its allies, will be at
"the height of aggression, we will be without weakness,"
he insisted.
While the world stock markets were unscrewing, Boris Johnson did not hesitate to call Vladimir Putin a
"dictator"
.
This invasion is
"a disaster for our continent"
, said the British Prime Minister.
"Diplomatically, politically, economically and ultimately militarily, this atrocious and barbaric undertaking by Vladimir Putin must end in failure"
, launched Boris Johnson in a televised address to his fellow citizens, while his head of diplomacy, Liz Truss, recalled that Putin
"has never been serious in his intentions to engage in diplomacy"
to avoid war.
"Experience shows that dialogue is indeed impossible with the Russian government"
, abounded the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi.
Let's not give up our unity around our principles of freedom, sovereignty and democracy
Emmanuel Macron
While Lithuania is going to impose a state of emergency on its territory, while Moldova is closing its airspace and while Latvia is banning for five years the broadcasting of three Russian television channels considered, according to Riga, as
"a threat to national security"
, Germany, through the voice of its chancellor, Olaf Scholz, stigmatized
"Putin's war"
.
This war
"calls into question the peace"
in Europe.
“The Russian president is once again blatantly violating international law
,” castigated the successor of Angela Merkel, who summoned German deputies to an extraordinary session on Sunday.
A few hours later, as president of the G7, Olaf Scholz brought together the heads of state and government who are members by videoconference to decide
“on a uniform and clear reaction”
.
“This crisis constitutes a serious threat to the international order (…) with ramifications far beyond Europe
,” underlines the G7 press release taken after the meeting.
Alone among the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, China said it understood
Russia's
"concerns" .
At the end of the day on Thursday, the United States circulated to the members of the Security Council in New York a draft resolution which reaffirms
the "unity, independence and territorial integrity"
of Ukraine, which must be debated this Friday.
See also
Does Ukraine have the military capabilities to resist the Russian invasion?
Thursday evening again, in an extraordinary meeting, European leaders were to decide on a new
"package" of
"massive and severe"
sanctions
, which should be adopted quickly against this
"barbaric attack"
, according to the EU.
These are
“the most severe sanctions ever decided”
, specified shortly before Josep Borrell, responsible for the external policy of the EU.
These sanctions, which will
“decouple”
the Russian economy from a number of industrial activities, target
“strategic sectors (…) by depriving them of access to key technologies and markets”
, declared in the morning the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
"In addition, we are going to freeze Russian assets in the European Union and stop Russian banks' access to the European financial market,"
added Ursula von der Leyen.
Some oligarchs would also be hit.
Will the Europeans go so far as to put Vladimir Putin's name on the sanction list?
The EU will be ready to deal with an influx of refugees, who are
“welcome”,
in any case promised the President of the European Commission.
