Ukraine live blog: + Foreign Office “strongly” advises against traveling to Russia +

The Foreign Office “strongly” advises against traveling to Russia. The NATO partners have started the “Nordic Response 2024” exercise. All developments in the live blog.

Germany has officially stopped importing gas from Russia as a result of the war of aggression against Ukraine. But trade in liquid gas between the EU and Russia continues unabated.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron is expected to meet his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin today. At the second German-British strategic dialogue, the two foreign ministers will discuss increased support for Ukraine and efforts to provide more humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip. The meeting comes days after Russian media published a wiretapped online conversation between senior German military officials about Ukraine, which also gave details of British operations in the country

Admitting Ukraine to the EU would have significant financial consequences for the existing member states without changing the funding rules. According to new example calculations from the Brussels think tank Bruegel, the total costs of integrating Ukraine in the current budget period from 2021 to 2027 would have amounted to around 136 billion euros. According to a report published on Thursday, the country would receive the most money from the pot for agricultural subsidies at 85 billion euros over the seven-year period.

The Bundeswehr and soldiers from other NATO countries have been training to defend against an attack on alliance territory since midnight in a large-scale exercise in northern Europe. A total of around 1,500 men and women from the German armed forces are taking part in the “Nordic Response 2024” exercise, including 700 mountain troops, as the Bundeswehr announced in the city of Alta in northern Norway. On Thursday, the soldiers were supposed to counterattack from the Alta area southern areas that in this scenario had already been occupied by an enemy.

According to Norwegian military information, around 20,000 soldiers from 13 allied nations are taking part in the maneuver in Scandinavia. These include Finland and Sweden, which decided to join the alliance after the Russian attack on Ukraine. NATO countries deploy a wide range of weapons systems, including 100 aircraft as well as naval forces with frigates and submarines.

The Foreign Office has tightened its travel advice for Russia and now “strongly” advises against traveling there. The change was made “due to the continuing deterioration of the situation, including increasing arbitrary arrests,” the ministry said. The travel advice expressly states that there is also a risk of arbitrary arrests for German citizens and German-Russian dual nationals. “In connection with unauthorized rallies and demonstrations, massive, sometimes violent actions by security forces can occur throughout the country.”

The Foreign Office had previously advised against traveling to Russia; the word “urgent” was added on Wednesday. There has been a travel warning for the administrative regions of Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh, Rostov and Krasnodar bordering Ukraine since the Russian invasion of Ukraine two years ago.

The authorities in Russia have the opposition activist and former world chess champion Kasparov on a “terror list”. Germany will participate in the procurement of hundreds of thousands of artillery shells for Ukraine. All developments can be read in Wednesday’s live blog.