Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Foreign Affairs, spoke on Monday at midday on leaving the Defense Council at the Elysée devoted to the war raging in Ukraine.
Armed support for Kiev, new economic sanctions, the fight against disinformation… Update on the measures announced this Monday at midday.
The French can leave Kiev by road
“There is now an opportunity” for French nationals to leave Kyiv, Le Drian says, as thousands of people leave the country.
"The roads out of Kiev from the south are probably not completely safe, but today there is an opportunity to leave the city," said the minister.
Jean-Yves Le Drian: "There is a possibility for our compatriots to leave Kiev by road" pic.twitter.com/IrSSi7HWJz
– BFMTV (@BFMTV) February 28, 2022
“So our compatriots - and I speak to them with great emotion - can decide to seize this opportunity to start by road.
We will not be able to provide them with assistance on the road, nor guarantee total safety on the journey, but we will be able to provide them with regular information on the crossing points and, on the other hand, to have consular assistance and wider on the other side of the border".
He adds that “there is also an opportunity to leave for Lviv from Kiev by train”.
Armed support for Ukraine
The Minister of Foreign Affairs announces armed European support for Kiev.
“We have acted on European coordination in the field of armaments to support Ukraine with defensive means,” he explains.
According to him, “it will be activated from a coordination hub which will be held in Poland.
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Fighting disinformation
“We enacted (on Sunday) a set of new sanctions, both financial and economic, but also a package which will put an end to the disinformation disseminated in Europe by Russian propaganda organs”, indicates Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“These measures (…) will be taken in an extremely short time, that is to say tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”, he warns.
Already, the European Union has announced that Russian state media Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik will be banned, to prevent them from spreading their “lies” about Moscow's war in Ukraine.
New economic sanctions
France lists the “real estate, yachts, luxury vehicles” belonging to Russian personalities under sanction, and the other personalities “having assets in France” and close to the Kremlin are being identified, indicates Bruno Le Maire, Minister economy.
“At the request of the President of the Republic, we have decided to intensify the financial sanctions against Russia and against the Russian oligarchs,” he said, during a speech on the steps of the Élysée, following Jean-Yves Le Drian.
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“All the assets of the Russian Central Bank were frozen last night, continues the minister.
The immediate effects are already visible in Russia,” he says.
