Live – Ukraine: “There will be no US soldiers” on site, warns Anthony Blinken at LCI

Below is the key information related to the last 24 hours of conflict:

– US foreign policy chief Anthony Blinken is in France on Monday, where he will discuss support for Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East with President Emmanuel Macron, his counterpart Stephane Sejournay and the French armed forces minister. US Secretary of State Sébastien Lecornu will visit Versailles, near Paris, along with Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, to the site of Nexter, a subsidiary of Franco-German group KNDS, which produces the Caesar cannons supplied to Q. France, which organized a summit in late February to urge “an uprising” in support of Ukraine, asked its allies to redouble their efforts to defeat Russia. After the Russian invasion in February 2022, ahead of France, the US remains Kyiv's main supporter. But in Washington, a $60 billion military aid package for Ukraine has been blocked for months by Republican opposition in Congress.

– Valéri Tchaika, a local official in the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian region of Lugansk (east), died on Monday during a “car bomb” explosion in Starobilsk, pro-Russian officials said. He was killed by an “unidentified device detonation” in the car, a local investigative team said. An investigation has been opened for a “terrorist act” and, according to the same source, the circumstances of the incident are being established. In the past, car bombings blamed on Ukraine have repeatedly targeted pro-Russian officials in occupied Ukrainian territories.

– French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said in Beijing on Monday that France expects China to send “very clear messages” to its close ally Russia about the war in Ukraine. “We expect China to send very clear messages to Russia,” the minister declared, pleading for a “balance of power favorable to Ukraine” at a press conference with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. Because “obviously China plays an important role in independence, respects international law, including the sovereignty of Ukraine,” he said. China, which presents itself as a neutral party but whose ties to Russia have deepened since the beginning of the conflict, is calling for a political solution to end the fighting in Ukraine. It is constantly called upon by the Western community to play a more active role in this conflict, using its influence over Russia.