direct. War in Ukraine: NATO to consider shooting down Russian missiles flying too close to its borders

EURO-2024: Volodymyr Zelenskiy congratulates players selected after qualification

Ukraine, in a two-year war against Russia, qualified for Euro-2024 after beating Iceland 2-1 in a play-off in Wroclaw, Poland, on Tuesday evening where the match was moved. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent a congratulatory message to the players with strong political content. “Thank you friends! Thank you for the choice! For the great feelings given to the whole country. For this important victory and for this qualification for the Euros. For showing once again that Ukrainians face difficulties every time but do not give up. And keep fighting, Ukrainians. Winning,” he wrote on his X account.

Agriculture: Europe considers imposing sanctions on Kiev

Twenty-seven today is investigating a project to limit certain agricultural imports from Ukraine, which is considered insufficient by some states, including France, who want to extend these restrictions to wheat – a demand of agricultural organizations. The file will be discussed at the meeting of the ambassadors of the member countries. “There is no agreement” on the inclusion of wheat, Belgian Agriculture Minister David Clarinvale admitted on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting with his European counterparts.

“We have enough countries to ask for changes to the text,” French minister Marc Fesneau warned. This is the cause of agricultural anger: the EU has exempted Kiev from customs duties from 2022 to support the country in the face of Russian aggression. European farmers accuse the influx of Ukrainian products of lowering domestic prices and “unfair” competition, which fail to meet the same standards.

State negotiators and MEPs agreed on March 20 to renew customs exemptions for a year from June, but by limiting imports of poultry, eggs, sugar, corn and oats to volumes imported in 2022-2023, on top of which there would be tariffs. Reimposed.

The mechanism does not include soft wheat and barley, as demanded by MEPs and agricultural associations, but several states, including France and Poland, are leading the way. “We have instability in grain markets”, argues Marc Fesneau, due to “the Russian strategy of preventing Ukraine from going to its traditional markets” in Africa and the Middle East. Paris also defends the extension of the capping reference period to 2021, arguing that the volumes of 2022-2023 already correspond to large imports.

Russia increasingly relies on the exhaustion of Ukrainian forces

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NATO plans to shoot down missiles if they come too close to its borders

In an interview with RMF24 radio, the Polish deputy foreign minister raised the possibility for NATO to shoot down Russian missiles that come too close to the alliance’s borders. A statement that comes two days after a Russian missile violated Polish airspace for 39 seconds. “Different concepts are being analyzed,” he stressed, “including shooting down these missiles when they are very close to NATO borders.” And to clarify: “But this can only be done with the agreement of the Ukrainian side and taking into account the international consequences.”