Zelensky asked for an army of one million men

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy asked his staff to form an army of one million men, equipped with Western weapons, in order to recover the Ukrainian South. This was revealed by Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov in an interview he gave to The Times of London, explaining that the president's intention is to return the occupied areas of the Black Sea under Ukrainian sovereignty, which are of key importance to the national economy.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone yesterday about Ukraine, the food crisis and Syria, according to the Turkish news agency "Anatoli". The Turkish president, among other things, expressed his desire for Ankara to play the role of a mediator for peace in the region. He also stressed that the UN should ensure the creation of safe sea corridors in the Black Sea for the transport of Ukrainian grain.

In another development, the death toll from a Russian missile attack on a residential complex in the eastern Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar is rising. Rescue crews have recovered 24 bodies from the wreckage. The Ukrainian president accused Moscow of deliberately targeting civilians, adding that "the punishment of Russian murderers is inevitable."

At the same time, the commissioner of Internal Affairs of the E.U. Ylva Johansson announced yesterday the strengthening of EU cooperation. with Moldova in order to control the border with Ukraine and prevent arms trafficking, pointing out that there are indications that this is already happening. European agencies, such as Frontex and Europol, will also participate in the cooperation.

Finally, a completely different approach from that of the official German government towards Russia is attempted by former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Speaking to the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, he emphasized that he is not going to miss the opportunities to communicate with President Putin, whom, after all, he describes as a "personal friend". He also stated that the war in Ukraine can only be ended through diplomatic channels.

Kathimerini.gr