live ticker Ukraine war
Zelenskyj wants to continue “fighting” for German Leopard tanks
“Germany must finally dare to take the lead”
At the meeting of the Ukraine contact group in Ramstein, no decision was made on the delivery of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Selenskyj advisor Alexander Rodnyansky explains at WELT why German Leopard tanks are much more important than British Challenger tanks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not yet given up hope for German Leopard tanks. He will continue to “fight” for the delivery, he said after the Ramstein conference. There is no alternative. More in the live ticker.
NAfter the Ukraine conference in Ramstein, Germany, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to continue fighting in Kyiv for the delivery of German Leopard 2 tanks to his country. During the talks, he heard a lot of understanding for the needs of Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia, Zelenskyj said in his video message on Friday evening. “Yes, we will still have to fight for the supply of modern tanks, but every day we make it more obvious that there is no alternative to choosing tanks,” he said.
At the conference at the US Air Force Base, no decision had yet been made on the delivery of main battle tanks. Nevertheless, Zelenskyj was optimistic that he will receive the tanks. Missiles with longer ranges are also needed to liberate Ukrainian areas, he said. Not everything that was discussed in Ramstein was intended for the public, Zelenskyj said. The bottom line, however, is a strengthening of Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. “The partners stand firm in their stance of supporting Ukraine for as long as is necessary for our victory.”
It has already been possible to increase the effectiveness of the artillery. Armored vehicles and several hundred combat vehicles have also been added to the country’s arsenal. Ukraine recorded successes with multiple rocket launchers and anti-aircraft defenses. In particular, Zelenskyy highlighted one of the “biggest defense packages” of the United States, which understood that “freedom” should not be lost. Many EU countries have also increased their support.
All developments in the live ticker:
07:48 – Former US Navy Seal killed in Ukraine
Another US citizen has died in fighting in Ukraine. The former member of the Navy Seals special unit succumbed to injuries he sustained in Dnipro, US officials said on Friday. He did not fight in an official capacity. No further details were given. The US State Department said it could only confirm the recent death of a US citizen in Ukraine and is in contact with the man’s family.
According to the Navy, the man was a non-commissioned officer and ran away from the force without permission in 2019. According to an entry on the Amazon website, he was the father of four children, wrote a book and was deployed as a member of the Navy Seals in Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, among other places. The Navy said it couldn’t say why he went to Ukraine. According to the US State Department and according to reports from family members, he is the sixth US citizen killed in fighting in Ukraine.
03:35 – Two men charged in US with aiding Russian oligarchs
Two men have been charged in the United States on suspicion of helping a sanctions-hit Russian oligarch conceal ownership of his yacht. As the US Department of Justice announced, a Briton was arrested in Spain and is to be extradited to the United States.
Another suspect with Russian and Swiss citizenship is on the run. The two men are said to have helped a close confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, billionaire Viktor Wekselberg, to disguise his ownership of the Tango yacht, which is valued at $90 million.
Wekselberg is the head of the Russian group Renowa and has been on a US sanctions list since 2018 because of the Russian annexation of the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula. The Briton, who runs a shipping company in Mallorca, is said to have renamed the yacht “Fanta” in order to be able to continue working with US outfitters, although this was not allowed under US sanctions. Despite attempts to cover it up, the 78-meter-long “Tango” was ultimately confiscated in Spain last April at the request of the United States.
02:35 – Ukraine: Armed forces will train on German tanks in Poland
According to Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Ukrainian armed forces in Poland will train on Leopard 2 main battle tanks. “We’ll start with that and then continue,” he was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian-language US broadcaster “Voice of America”. Resnikov called the development of the training a breakthrough and attributed the success to Poland’s efforts.
The minister attended the Ramstein conference on Friday. When asked whether Germany would deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks in the future, he was optimistic. Resnikov posted a photo on Twitter in which he could be seen with the new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). In his post he thanked, among other things, the German government for the military aid and also wrote: “We had an open discussion about Leopard 2. To be continued.”
01:00 – Ukrainian first lady expects more efforts on peace plan
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska has called on Ukraine’s western allies to do more to implement a ten-point peace plan. Every country plays a role for which it must also take responsibility, Selenska said in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The peace plan, announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G20 summit in November, also includes calls for ensuring food and energy security and mechanisms to prevent the conflict escalating in the Euro-Atlantic area. “It also includes legal demands, such as an international war crimes tribunal and the return of prisoners of war to Ukraine,” Selenska told the newspaper.
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