Ukraine conflict: “We can’t offer an olive branch forever”

In the Ukraine conflict, the West continues to rely on diplomacy. But EU Council President Michel emphasized that he “cannot offer Russia an olive branch forever”. Britain’s Prime Minister Johnson warned of “perhaps the biggest war in Europe since 1945”.

Despite the escalating situation in the Ukraine conflict, the West is still willing to talk to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but patience seems to be growing thin. EU Council President Charles Michel rejected ongoing peace offers to Moscow. “We can’t offer an olive branch forever while Russia tests missiles and continues to deploy troops,” Michel said in his speech at the Munich Security Conference. The big question remains: “Does the Kremlin want dialogue?” the EU Council President added.

If Moscow “risks further military aggression, we will respond with massive sanctions, and they must and will be tough, especially for Russia,” added Michel. In the event of a Russian attack on Ukraine, Michel wants to call a special summit of European heads of state and government immediately. The Belgian said that they would ensure that sanctions were decided in full agreement.

Johnson warns of ‘biggest war in Europe since 1945’

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of a war on the scale of World War II. “I am sorry to say that the scale of the plan we are seeing is what could really be the biggest war in Europe since 1945,” Johnson told the BBC. He is referring to alleged Russian plans for an attack on Ukraine. “Everything indicates that the plan has already begun in a way,” said Johnson, who had been very offensive in recent days about Russian “false flag operations”.

This is how deliberately staged actions are described, for which other forces – in this case probably Ukrainian forces – are blamed afterwards. Russia could stage something to create a pretext for an invasion, so the concern. “People really need to understand how many lives could be affected,” Johnson warned of the impending escalation and again announced severe sanctions in this case.

“Europe is in danger”

According to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Europe must prepare more for new threats such as hybrid attacks. “Europe is in danger,” said Borrell at the Munich Security Conference, referring to countries like Russia and China, which wanted to go back to the way powers thought in the 19th century. The EU states must therefore join forces.

Macron wants to prevent escalation

French President Emmanuel Macron wants to call Putin today. According to the Elysée Palace, these are the “last possible and necessary efforts” to prevent a military escalation. “The situation is very dangerous, but there is still room for diplomacy,” said an aide to the French president. If necessary, Macron will travel to Kiev and Moscow again to mediate in the conflict.

According to Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Russia has made all preparations to attack. “We are well advised to be prepared,” said the SPD politician on ZDF’s “heute journal”. She welcomed NATO’s decision to drastically reduce the standby times for tens of thousands of soldiers in the military alliance.

More fighting in eastern Ukraine

New night attacks were reported from the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. The pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions announced that villages had been shelled on several occasions since midnight. Two civilians were killed. The Ukrainian army also listed several violations of the current ceasefire – two soldiers were killed yesterday. There are also reports of several explosions in the city of Donetsk. The respective data could not be verified independently.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) complained that at least two pumping stations in the Donetsk region had failed due to shelling in the past few days. These supplied more than a million people with drinking water. “We are very concerned about developments in eastern Ukraine,” said Florence Gillette, head of the ICRC delegation in Ukraine. She appealed to the protection of the population during military operations.

According to its own statements, Russia took in tens of thousands of people from the neighboring country. According to the Tass state agency, Civil Protection Minister Alexander Chupriyan spoke of more than 40,000 refugees who had arrived in the Rostov region in the south of the country. They have therefore been housed in 92 emergency shelters.