live blog
The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Makeiev, expects Germany to play a “leading role” in his country’s NATO accession. In Brussels today the EU defense ministers are discussing more ammunition for Ukraine. All developments in the live blog.
During a visit to Riyadh, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev discussed closer cooperation with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, just days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke at an Arab League summit in the Saudi Red Sea port of Jeddah had spoken. According to the Saudi state press agency, Kolokoltsev exchanged views with the Saudi interior minister, Prince Abdulasis bin Saud, about “ways to improve cooperation on security policy”.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth, pleads for a European alliance when it comes to the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine. There are already some states that want to deliver the F16, said the SPD politician Deutschlandfunk. Although Germany does not have the fighter jets that are in demand, one can still contribute something. “We should join such a European alliance.” This is an important sign that Europe will not be divided on this issue. Germany’s contribution is somewhat more modest in this case. But you can help logistically, “maybe also financially,” Roth explained.
In the Russian region of Belgorod on the border with Ukraine, “counter-terrorism” measures are continuing, according to the region’s governor. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense and security forces continued to clean up the Graivoron district, Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram. Therefore, the residents of the district could not go back to their homes. A woman died during the evacuation on Monday. Two other people are said to have been injured, but Russian security forces have not yet reached them.
On Monday, the governor accused Ukraine of sending a “spy and sabotage squad” across the border. There were reports on social networks of places near the border being shelled. Measures had been taken to repel the incursion and eliminate the enemy. Ukraine denied responsibility.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
After the successful deployment of British cruise missiles in Ukraine, Union defense politician Roderich Kiesewetter called on the federal government to make German “Taurus” cruise missiles available for Kiev. Ukraine’s partners must now provide the country with everything “that Ukraine can use in combined arms combat and that is permissible under international law,” Kiesewetter told the editorial network Germany. “Taurus” cruise missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometers and could be a “very helpful contribution from Germany,” said the CDU politician.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has arrived in China for talks. Meetings with head of state and party leader Xi Jinping and other high-ranking politicians are planned during the two-day visit. Mishustin and business representatives who are traveling with him will first take part in a business forum in the financial metropolis of Shanghai. The delegation also includes some Western-sanctioned businessmen.
China is Russia’s largest trading partner and to this day rejects Western sanctions against the regime in Moscow. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, trade between Russia and China has grown significantly. Officially, the communist government in Beijing is neutral in the bloody conflict, but has not yet condemned the attack on Ukraine, which violates international law, and is also not talking about a war.
The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin, Oleksii Makeiev, is calling on the German government to press ahead with his country’s admission to NATO. Ukraine is expecting “clear signals on Euro-Atlantic integration and my country’s future NATO membership” from the NATO summit taking place on July 11 and 12 in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, Makeiev told the newspapers of the Funke media group. Only membership in the Atlantic Alliance can provide security guarantees.
Ukraine expects “a leading role from our allies in Germany, as they have already played in the formation of the tank coalition and air defense.” Makeiev praises the coalition forged at the G7 summit in Hiroshima to supply fighter jets, but without insisting on Germany’s participation.
The defense ministers of the European Union are discussing further support for Ukraine in Brussels today (from 11.00 a.m.). It is about the promise of the Europeans to deliver one million artillery shells to Ukraine. The government in Kiev urgently needs the ammunition to defend itself against Russia. According to diplomats, however, the delivery schedules have stalled.
Another topic is a new EU intervention force, for which around 5,000 soldiers are under discussion from 2025. The federal government wants to play a central role in this. The defense ministers will also meet NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg for a working lunch.
After the alleged shelling of Belgorod, a terror alert has been issued in the Russian border region. The Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia is back on the external power grid.