EU tariffs on Russian grain could rise – the situation at a glance

War in Ukraine

The EU Commission wants to impose higher tariffs on Russian grain and other agricultural products. The decision is explosive. An overview of what happened at night and a look ahead to the day.

More news about the war in Ukraine

The EU Commission wants to impose higher tariffs on imports of Russian grain. The authority has prepared a corresponding proposal, said the Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late Thursday evening after talks between EU heads of state and government at a summit in Brussels. In addition to grain, it would also affect other agricultural products from Russia and Belarus.

In addition, according to von der Leyen, grain stolen from Ukraine should be prevented from being sold to the EU. Russian grain must not destabilize the EU market and Russia must not benefit from exporting these goods.

Before the summit, several eastern EU states had written a letter to the EU Commission demanding that the Commission prepare import restrictions for Russian grain. Russia is also financing the ongoing war against Ukraine with profits from grain exports to the EU, according to the letter, which was signed by the agriculture ministers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

The proposal is explosive because the EU actually did not want to restrict the import and export of agricultural products. The Commission is now arguing that tariffs are not sanctions. In addition, it should be guaranteed that the taxes only apply to imports that remain in the EU. This should not make Russian exports to other regions of the world more expensive.

Zelenskyj calls for more EU military aid

The Ukrainian one President Volodymyr Zelensky was connected to the EU summit on Thursday via video and urgently called for more military support for his country. “Unfortunately, the use of artillery at the front by our soldiers is shameful for Europe in the sense that Europe can do more,” he said, according to the text of the speech published by an EU spokeswoman. “It is important to prove this now.”

Ukraine has long been asking the EU for long-range weapons to destroy Russian attackers’ supply lines far behind the front lines. Britain and France have already sent their Storm Shadow and Scalp cruise missiles. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) does not want to make the Taurus cruise missiles with a range of 500 kilometers available to the Bundeswehr because he fears that Germany could be drawn into the war.

In his evening video address, Zelensky also appealed to the international community to further tighten sanctions against Russia. Russian rockets, for example, often still contained Western components that reached Russia through loopholes, he criticized. “Every Russian terrorist attack indicates that global sanctions against Putin’s system have not been enough so far.”

Ukraine reports three deaths in Kherson and Donetsk regions

According to official reports, at least three people have been killed in the Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Donetsk as a result of Russian attacks. In a village in Kherson in the south of the country, a 70-year-old woman was seriously injured by shelling and died a short time later on the way to the hospital, the regional military administration said.

In Donetsk in the east, a 60-year-old man and a 66-year-old woman were killed in the small town of Novohrodivka, according to prosecutors. Two other people were injured, it was said.

Prisoners at war: two penal camps in Siberia close

According to media reports, at least two prison camps in the Siberian Krasnoyarsk region will be closed due to the large number of Russian prisoners fighting in Ukraine. The prisons should be closed for reasons of “optimization” after many criminals were pardoned in view of their deployment in the war zone, said the region’s human rights commissioner, Mark Denisov, according to the Kommersant daily newspaper.

According to him, the penal camps in the towns of Gromadsk and Arejskoye are affected. Gromadsk is mainly home to repeat offenders. Areyskoye is a camp for serious criminals.

SPD leader: It must be possible to talk about the question of peace

The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil currently sees no basis for negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin about an end to the war in Ukraine. “I personally don’t believe that you can sit down at the same table with Vladimir Putin,” said Klingbeil on Thursday evening on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner.” The SPD leader added that those who decided on this were the Ukrainians.

The program was, among other things, about controversial statements by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenichs about freezing the war in Ukraine. Klingbeil defended Mützenich against harsh criticism from his coalition partners, the Greens and the FDP. Mützenich ensures that the SPD parliamentary group stands united behind Chancellor Scholz’s Ukraine policy, said the party leader. In his speech in the Bundestag, the parliamentary group leader clearly said that Ukraine would continue to receive military support in its defensive fight against Russia, but that it must also be possible to talk about the issue of peace. “And I tell you, there is this desire and this need. And I think you can endure these debates and you can also have them,” emphasized Klingbeil.

That will be important on Friday

On the second and final day of the Brussels summit, the meeting of the heads of state and government of the EU states on Friday will once again focus on, among other things, Russia’s war of aggression and strengthening the European defense industry. (dpa/tas)

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