Ukraine conflict: Macron and Putin on the phone – politics

French President Emmanuel Macron has informed Russian President Vladimir Putin of the concerns of European partners and allies in the Ukraine crisis. According to the Élysée Palace, Macron also told Putin in a phone call that lasted about an hour and a half on Saturday that sincere dialogue is not compatible with escalation. The two also spoke about stability and security in Europe, as well as how the implementation of the 2015 Minsk peace plan, which is on hold, can progress.

Macron wants to speak to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this Saturday. This was announced by the Presidential Office in Paris. In Macron’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, there was no indication that Russia was planning an offensive. The Russian President is also on the phone with US President Biden this Saturday. (02/12/2022)

Federal government: Germans should leave Ukraine in the short term

After warnings from the US government of a possible impending Russian attack, the German government has now asked its citizens to leave Ukraine. The embassy in Kiev will remain open for the time being, according to a statement from the Foreign Office. It said: “If you are currently in Ukraine, check whether your presence is absolutely necessary. If not, leave the country at short notice.” The USA, Great Britain, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, Latvia and Estonia, among others, had previously asked their citizens to leave the country. It was also announced on Saturday afternoon that the United States was withdrawing 160 members of the National Guard who had been deployed to Ukraine for training purposes since November to advise the military there. The Pentagon said their move would not change US determination to support Ukraine’s armed forces.

The Federal Foreign Office warned: “The tensions between Russia and Ukraine have increased in recent days due to the massive presence and movements of Russian military units near the Ukrainian borders. A military conflict cannot be ruled out.” The German consulate general in Donetsk in Dnipro is “temporarily closed with immediate effect”; it is to be transferred to Lviv (Lemberg). In future, this will enable employees to work further away from the so-called line of contact between the Ukrainian government troops and the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.

So far, there has been a travel warning for Ukraine due to the corona pandemic and a partial travel warning for the Donetsk and Luhansk administrative districts controlled by the separatists and the areas along the contact line.

(02/12/2022)

Kiev has no information about the imminent invasion

After renewed US warnings of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine in the coming week, Kiev has expressed surprise. “If you or anyone else has additional information about a 100 percent invasion on February 16, please provide us with that information,” President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on Saturday. Kiev is aware that there are risks.

Still, there would be too many reports in the public space of a major war by Russia against Ukraine. Kiev is prepared for everything. But: “The enemy’s best friend is panic in our country,” Zelensky told Western journalists in English. All this information would only create panic and would not help Ukraine.

The day before, heightened warnings from Washington of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine had sparked international unrest. Like numerous other western countries before it, the federal government called on Germans to leave the country on Saturday. For weeks, Western reports have been talking about a Russian troop deployment near the Ukrainian borders. The Kremlin regularly rejects invasion plans and speaks of “war hysteria”. The “propaganda campaign” of the United States and its allies is pursuing “provocative goals,” Moscow said after a phone call between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US colleague Antony Blinken on Saturday. Kiev is being “encouraged to sabotage the Minsk agreements and harmful attempts at a military solution to the “Donbass problem,” it said. Ukraine has not yet been mobilized, nor has a state of war been declared.

US and Russia withdraw diplomatic personnel from Ukraine

Because of the Russian troop deployment along the border with Ukraine, the United States is withdrawing most of the staff from the embassy in Kiev. This was announced via Twitter. Only a “core team” will continue to work there. after one report of Wall Street Journal Russia is also reducing its diplomatic staff in Ukraine – in the embassy in Kiev and in its consulates. The newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying that this is happening because there are fears of “provocations” by the Ukrainian government or other states. (02/12/2022)

Putin and Biden are on the phone again on Saturday

The Russian government has again denied claims that it is planning an invasion of Ukraine. Western countries are spreading misinformation in this regard and are being supported by the media, the Foreign Ministry said in Moscow. They tried to distract states from their own aggressive actions. Immediately beforehand, the USA had again spoken of possible attack scenarios by Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will have a phone call with US President Biden on Saturday. According to the Kremlin, Washington requested the interview. According to the White House, the conversation goes back to a suggestion by Russia – the Kremlin initially suggested Monday as the date, but then complied with the US request for an exchange on Saturday, according to the US Presidential Office. According to Russian agency reports, Putin also wants to speak to Emmanuel Macron, the French head of state. (02/11/2022)

US sends 3000 more soldiers to Poland

In view of the Ukraine crisis, the US armed forces are temporarily relocating around 3,000 more soldiers to the NATO partner state of Poland. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered this at the behest of President Joe Biden, the Department of Defense said in Washington. The soldiers of an airborne division from the state of North Carolina would leave in “the next few days” and should be on site early next week, it said.

The US government had only announced the transfer of around 2,000 soldiers to Europe at the beginning of February. Around 1,700 of these were also to be relocated to Poland, a neighboring country to Ukraine. Two-thirds of them have already arrived, the Pentagon said on Friday. The 300 additional soldiers who were transferred to Germany are already on site. “All in all, these 5,000 additional soldiers comprise a highly mobile and flexible force capable of multiple deployments,” the ministry said. It is about reassuring the eastern NATO partners and averting possible aggression, it said.

At the same time, the US Air Force relocated eight F-16 fighter jets from Spangdahlem in the Eifel to Romania to the Borcea Air Force Base, 150 kilometers east of Bucharest, according to the US Air Force Command and the Romanian Ministry of Defense. They would take part in joint exercises with the Romanian military along with 150 US soldiers, it said. The maneuvers would last two weeks. A few days ago, four US Navy F / A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets arrived in Borcea. They should also take part in the exercise.

In Romania, around 1,000 US soldiers and Stryker wheeled armored vehicles are also said to reinforce the local security forces. In Bulgaria, the second Eastern European NATO country on the Black Sea, four Eurofighters from NATO country Spain are to help with airspace surveillance. (02/12/2022)

Western allies: The situation is ‘very, very serious’

In a switching conference on the Ukraine crisis, the western allies once again emphasized their determination to react to a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine with rapid and far-reaching sanctions. German government circles then said that the participants from the European Union and NATO assessed the situation as “very, very serious”. They want to continue trying to persuade Russia to de-escalate with diplomatic efforts. “We must prevent a war in Europe,” wrote government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit on Twitter.

US President Joe Biden discussed the Ukraine conflict with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other allies. Also invited were EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, EU Council President Charles Michel, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, and Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Apparently there is great concern in the US administration that Putin is about to attack Ukraine and that the decision to do so may already have been made. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there were “very worrying signs of a Russian escalation.” An invasion could begin “at any time,” Blinken said, “and to be clear, that includes beginning during the Olympic Games,” the US Secretary of State said.

In view of the worsening situation, the US armed forces are relocating around 3,000 more soldiers to the NATO partner country Poland. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered this at the behest of President Joe Biden, the Pentagon said. It is an addition to the 8,500 soldiers that the United States has ready for deployment to Europe and the almost 3,000 soldiers whose deployment to Poland and Romania has already been announced.

Should Putin actually attack, it will weaken rather than strengthen Russia’s power and influence in the long run, said US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. There will then be a “wave of condemnation from all over the world”. Moscow will then be confronted with a “determined transatlantic community” and there will be “massive pressure” on the Russian economy, according to Sullivan.

For the beginning of a possible invasion, the US government considers an air strike to be the most likely scenario. A rapid advance by the Russian military against the Ukrainian capital Kiev or a false flag operation is also possible, according to Sullivan. Russia has mobilized enough forces to carry out a major military strike. (02/11/2022)

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