• Peace is not for now in Russia.

    Joe Biden has announced that he will discuss with Vladimir Putin if the latter withdraws his troops from Russia, while Vladimir Putin will only be open to discussion if Russia recognizes the annexation of the four territories it claims in Ukraine.

  • Meanwhile, the population continues to suffer from power cuts caused by the Russian bombings of November 23.

    Strikes qualified as a “war crime” by the international community.

  • Mysterious letter bombs have been sent to Spain, injuring a man at the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid.

    Like every Friday, "20 Minutes" looks back on the key elements of the war in Ukraine and the major turning points of the week in infographics.

Almost ten months after the start of the war in Ukraine, it is time to search for peace.

But the talks seem to have reached an impasse, with Ukraine and the international community calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops, while Vladimir Putin remains adamant on the annexation of four territories.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian population is trying to weather the winter as best it can, with the majority of the population only having electricity for a few hours a day, a consequence of the massive bombing of energy infrastructure on November 23.

Strikes totally claimed by Russia, but condemned by the international community, which calls for a judgment on Moscow's "war crimes".

The impossible search for peace


While the war started more than nine months ago, the international community is still calling for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke with President Putin on Friday, insisting “that a diplomatic solution be found as soon as possible”.

The day before, US President Joe Biden said he was "ready" to speak with his Russian counterpart, if the latter "is looking for a way to end the war" in Ukraine.

Conditions rejected in stride by the Kremlin.

The United States does not recognize the annexation of the four Ukrainian territories claimed by Moscow in September, which "significantly complicates the search for [common ground] for a possible discussion", explained the spokesperson from the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov.

On his side,

Emmanuel Macron said he would meet with Vladimir Putin in the coming days, stressing that a "just peace is not a peace that will be imposed on Ukrainians".

The French and Russian presidents have not spoken to each other since 9/11.

At the same time, on the ground, Russian forces are keeping up the pressure to seize Bakhmout, a city in eastern Ukrainian territory in the vicinity of which fighting has been raging since the summer.

This battle took on all the more symbolic importance for Moscow as the conquest of Bakhmout, with the support of the paramilitary group Wagner, would come after a series of humiliating defeats, with the retreats from Kharkiv in September and Kherson in November.

Unanimous condemnation of Russia's 'war crimes'

Russian military strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure are now unanimously considered “war crimes” by the international community.

The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it was working on the creation of a special tribunal to try them.

"While continuing to support the International Criminal Court [ICC, headquartered in The Hague], we propose to set up a UN-backed special tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russia's crimes of aggression against Ukraine, said the president of the European executive Ursula von der Leyen, in a video posted Wednesday on Twitter.

A proposal must be presented to the Member States for discussion.

The Kremlin, for its part, affirmed that the creation of such a court would have “no legitimacy” and blamed the Ukrainian army.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, pointed out that Russian investigators were carrying out “meticulous” work to document “all the crimes of the kyiv regime” in Ukraine.

Russia justifies its strikes on Ukrainian power plants

Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday that massive strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure were "necessary and inevitable".

According to the Russian president, kyiv is responsible for the explosions which partly destroyed the Russian Crimean bridge and Russian energy installations, so Moscow is in its right.

The great wave of Russian missile and drone strikes on November 23 "destroyed 40% of the Ukrainian energy system", the private Ukrainian operator DTEK estimated on Thursday, leaving millions of civilians in the cold and in the dark.

A week later, the majority of Ukrainian homes only have electricity for a few hours a day.

While NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accused Russia of using winter as a "weapon of war", Volodymyr Zelensky called on the countries of the Atlantic Alliance to speed up their deliveries of electrical equipment (and weapons).

Ukrainians are forced to resort to emergency generators, to use gas canisters or to light themselves with candles during the time slots when they are without electricity.

On Tuesday, this makeshift equipment cost the lives of nine people, who perished in fires.

Investigation for “terrorism” in Spain

A terrorism investigation has been opened in Spain after letter bombs were sent.

On Wednesday, the security officer of the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid was slightly injured in the right hand by an "explosion" caused by the opening of a letter intended for the ambassador.

Other missives “with similar characteristics” were intercepted.

They were intended for the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and his Defense Minister.

Still others were neutralized in an arms company manufacturing grenade launchers donated by Madrid to kyiv, in a major military base near Madrid and at the United States Embassy.

The Spanish Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Pérez, indicated that “first indications” suggest that these letters were sent from Spain.

On Wednesday, the Ukrainian ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev had implicitly accused Russia of being the source of the bombed mail sent to him.

"We are well aware of the terrorist methods of the aggressor country," he said on Spanish public television.

In a tweet published on Thursday, the Russian Embassy in Spain condemned the sending of these letter bombs.

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