live blog
After the failure of new aid to Ukraine from the USA, politicians from the SPD and CDU are worried. The head of the Munich Security Conference is counting on a negotiated solution to end the fighting. All developments in the live blog.
Shortly before his departure for the USA, Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on the USA and the Europeans to support Ukraine together. The EU and its members are Ukraine’s largest financial supporters with 84.4 billion euros, writes Scholz in an article in the US newspaper “Wall Street Journal”.
Before his visit to Washington, the reference to the numbers is intended to help dispel criticism in the US Congress that Europe is not doing enough to support Ukraine. Yesterday, another attempt by US President Joe Biden to get his billion-dollar military package for Ukraine through Congress failed.
In the article, the Chancellor also underlines how important transatlantic cooperation is in NATO. The background is fears that a possible election winner Donald Trump in the US presidential election would cause the USA to leave NATO.
According to a report by Russian news agency RIA, representatives from Russia and the United Nations could meet later this month for further talks on facilitating Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports. RIA cites Russian UN envoy Gennady Gatilov in the report. Russia has blamed a lack of progress in facilitating its own exports for the collapse of last year’s grain deal. The grain agreement was intended to allow grain exports from Ukrainian ports.
Controversial right-wing US presenter Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin is published today. The former star presenter of the conservative US news channel Fox News wrote on the online platform Instagram that the recorded interview would be shown on his website at 6 p.m. (US Eastern time; Friday 00:00 CET). It is Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began almost two years ago.
Carlson is known for sharply right-wing positions, the spread of conspiracy theories, a close proximity to former US President Donald Trump – and, with regard to the Ukraine war, for a very Russia-friendly and Kiev-critical stance. He has repeatedly criticized US aid to Ukraine. It is therefore feared that Carlson will provide Putin with a platform for spreading propaganda.
To end the war in Ukraine, the head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, is relying on a negotiated solution – also based on the failed Minsk Agreement. “It shouldn’t end like it did in the First World War with hundreds of thousands of deaths. It is therefore right to think about how to reach a negotiated solution,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s long-time foreign policy advisor to the Funke media group. “And I think you can certainly use the Minsk Agreement as a guide.” Heusgen referred to statements by the Ukrainian commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valery Saluschnyj, according to which there was a stalemate at the front like on the Western Front in the First World War.
The head of the International Nuclear Regulatory Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has welcomed the decline in hostilities around the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. “The physical integrity of the facility is relatively stable,” Grossi said in a video posted on the IAEA website. “There have been fewer direct attacks or shelling in the area surrounding the facility, which is a positive development, although we view this with great caution.” Grossi said that during his visit to the nuclear power plant on Wednesday, he also inspected the newly drilled wells, which are important for cooling, and discussed the availability of qualified personnel. Grossi was accompanied by Russian soldiers during his visit.
Politicians from the SPD and CDU have seen the failure of new aid to Ukraine in the US Senate as a warning signal. “The blockade of Ukraine aid in Congress is just a first foretaste of what could threaten if Donald Trump is re-elected to the White House in November,” said the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD), to the news portal t online. “Europe’s security would then no longer be guaranteed from one day to the next,” said Roth. “The future of free and independent Ukraine would be in grave danger.”
At the same time, the SPD politician criticized the fact that the EU had relied for too long on the USA continuing to provide Ukraine with comprehensive military support. “We Europeans must finally take on more responsibility to contain and stop Russian imperialism,” said Roth. “This is the right path – regardless of whether the next president is called Trump or Biden.” “We must finally wake up and prepare for a possible Donald Trump presidency by investing massively in our own security,” said CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen t-online.
The US Senate has rejected a billion-dollar package that, among other things, provides aid for Ukraine. The oil company Rosneft Germany may be facing nationalization. Wednesday’s developments to read.