live blog
Ukraine says it fended off Russian drones from the direction of Donetsk during the night. French Foreign Minister Séjourné puts President Macron’s controversial statements about ground troops into perspective. All developments in the live blog.
The former head of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, believes a debate about sending Western ground troops to Ukraine is appropriate. “In a conflict situation like the one we find ourselves in with Russia, it is of course correct in principle not to rule anything out. As soon as you rule something out, you of course make it easier in principle for your opponent to prepare for what might happen. to set up,” the former top diplomat told the Welt-TV broadcaster on Tuesday evening.
He found it “a bit bold, but not wrong” that French President Emmanuel Macron said: “If it continues like this, it’s better that we don’t rule anything out.” But Ischinger also emphasized that, on the other hand, there is the right principle that NATO does not want to be drawn militarily into the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Albania ahead of a security conference of the Western Balkan countries. Albania’s Foreign Minister Igli Hasani called the Ukrainian leader’s arrival in Tirana late Tuesday evening “a crucial moment for promoting bilateral relations and solidarity with Ukraine in its heroic fight against Russian aggression.”
It is Zelensky’s first visit to the Balkan country since the Russian invasion began two years ago. On Wednesday, Zelensky will attend a summit of heads of state and government from the Western Balkan countries. It should also be about support for Ukraine.
Ukraine says it fended off Russian drones during the night. All ten “Shahed” drones from the direction of the occupied Donetsk region were destroyed, the air force announced on Telegram. Accordingly, Russia also fired S-300 anti-aircraft missiles into Ukraine.
Conflict parties as a source
In the current situation, information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian parties to the conflict cannot be directly verified by an independent body.
The Ukrainian Crimean representative Tamila Tasheva has complained about increasing human rights violations there ten years after the start of the Russian annexation of the Black Sea peninsula. As of February 24, the occupiers have illegally imprisoned 208 people, including 125 Crimean Tatars,” the permanent representative of the Ukrainian president in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea told the dpa news agency. She also criticized “colonization” and a “total Russification” of the people Region.
As a Russian appendage, Crimea is cut off from the outside world and is economically dependent on the occupying power. Above all, this made life significantly more expensive for people. “We see growing resistance to the occupation,” said Tashewa.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné has classified President Macron’s statements. Séjourné said in the National Assembly that new means of support must be considered that respond to very precise needs.
He is thinking primarily of cyber defense, the production of weapons in Ukraine and mine clearance. “Some of these actions may require a presence on Ukrainian territory without reaching the belligerent threshold,” he said.
In the debate about Western ground troops, the USA also declared that it would not send soldiers to Ukraine. Ukrainian President Zelenskyj has arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks.