Selenskyj hopes for further evacuation from the steelworks +++ Germany is campaigning for an oil embargo +++ Merz wants to travel to Kyiv +++ All developments on the war in Ukraine in star-Ticker.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was pleased with the successful evacuation of civilians from the hard-fought Azovstal plant in the port city of Mariupol and hopes the rescue operation will continue on Monday. While Selenskyj described Russia’s war strategy as pointless, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov once again identified the USA as the cause of all evil. Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to comment on the Russian attack on Ukraine on ZDF on Monday evening.
News of the war in Ukraine on Monday, May 2nd:
8.08 a.m .: Schwarzer defends the open letter against criticism
Feminist Alice Schwarzer has dismissed criticism of the open letter she and other prominent figures have issued warning of a Third World War as a result of arms aid to Ukraine. “For the first time in my life I am seriously convinced of the danger of a new world war,” said the publicist on Sunday evening in the picture talk show “The Right Questions”. While helping the Ukrainians to defend themselves is the right thing to do, it is “a matter of drawing the very difficult line between support for defense and the supply of weapons that Mr. Putin can understand as offensive weapons.”
Schwarzer and other celebrities such as the writer Martin Walser appealed in the letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) published on Friday not to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine, either directly or indirectly, so as not to give Russian President Vladimir Putin a motive for escalating the war to give to the NATO countries. Rather, Scholz should do everything possible “to ensure that a ceasefire can be reached as quickly as possible; a compromise that both sides can accept.” By Monday morning, the letter had been digitally signed by around 140,000 people.
5.50 a.m .: According to Lavrov, Moscow does not want to end the military operation by May 9th
Russia does not intend to end its military operation in Ukraine before the May 9 anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. “Our military will not artificially align its actions with any date,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Italian TV channel Mediaset. “The pace of the operation in Ukraine depends primarily on the need to minimize risks to the civilian population and Russian military personnel,” Lavrov added in the interview aired on Sunday.
On May 9, Russia traditionally celebrates the victory over Nazi Germany with a military parade and a speech by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin on Red Square in Moscow. This year, the celebrations against the background of the Russian military operation in Ukraine are of particular importance.
5.30 a.m .: Merz’s trip to Ukraine will probably start today
After sharp criticism of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), CDU chairman Friedrich Merz wants to travel to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to get an idea of the situation and the requests for support. The CDU circulated a message from its chief of staff Jacob Schrot on Twitter, in which he wrote without naming a date: “Friedrich Merz is indeed planning a trip to Ukraine.”
According to information from “Bild” and “Tagesspiegel”, Merz wants to start this Monday.
4.53 a.m .: Selenskyj hopes for further evacuation from the steel plant in Mariupol
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his satisfaction with the successful evacuation of civilians from the hard-fought Azovstal plant in the port city of Mariupol and hopes that the rescue operation will continue. “I hope that tomorrow (Monday) all necessary conditions will be met to continue evacuating people from Mariupol,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video message on Sunday evening. “We will continue to do everything to evacuate our people from Azovstal and from Mariupol as a whole “, he said.
According to Ukrainian sources, around 1,000 civilians are said to be trapped in the bunkers of the steelworks alone. Russia speaks of about 2,500 people, including military and foreign mercenaries.
4.40 a.m .: Strack-Zimmermann demands that tanks be made roadworthy as soon as possible
The Chairwoman of the Defense Committee of the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, expects rapid progress on the agreed delivery of Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine. “The political decision is now there,” said the FDP politician in an interview with the German Press Agency. The export of war weapons must now be signed in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. “But then a contract is needed between Ukraine and industry, even if we pay for it. It’s now the industry’s job to get the tanks roadworthy as quickly as possible, to deliver them and to ensure that the appropriate ammunition is added.”
After a basic agreement in the federal government made up of SPD, Greens and FDP, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) of the Ukraine last week promised training for soldiers and the delivery of the Gepard tanks. The armaments manufacturer Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW) has 50 of the tanks in stock and is awaiting arrangements for sale. It is also being checked whether a medium single-digit number of the Panzerhaubitze 2000 can be sold from Bundeswehr stocks.
4.04 a.m .: EU energy ministers are advising on the Russian gas supply stop
At a special meeting starting at 3 p.m., the EU energy ministers will discuss the Russian gas supply stops for Poland and Bulgaria. According to the French Presidency, it is about ways to support both countries. Russia turned off the gas supply to Poland and Bulgaria on Wednesday, citing the lack of ruble payments as the reason. According to diplomatic circles, the deliberations will also deal with a possible oil embargo against Russia.
The energy ministers are also discussing joint gas purchases by member states. The EU summit at the end of March paved the way for this. The planned tightening of sanctions against Russia in the Ukraine war should also be an issue. According to diplomats, the EU Commission is currently preparing another package of sanctions against Russia, which also provides for the gradual introduction of an oil embargo.
2.52 a.m .: According to Baerbock, Germany is promoting the EU’s oil embargo against Russia
According to Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), Germany supports an EU oil embargo against Russia. “We are also promoting within the EU that we should now go together as Europeans to phase out oil in the sixth EU sanctions package,” said Baerbock on Sunday evening on the ARD program “Anne Will”.
“And we are preparing for this in such a way that, if in doubt, we can hold out for the next few years.” A lifting of the sanctions against Moscow is only conceivable when Russia has completely withdrawn its troops from Ukraine, said the Green politician. Because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU states had already decided on an import ban on Russian coal. Germany had previously been skeptical about an oil embargo.
2.11 a.m .: Explosions shake the southern Russian city of Belgorod
The southern Russian city of Belgorod, not far from the border with Ukraine, was shaken by two heavy explosions on Monday night. There are initially no reports of damage or casualties, said Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, according to the Russian state agency Tass. However, there are reports on social media of lightning in the sky. Video footage and reports of alleged Ukrainian drones over Belgorod and the use of regional anti-aircraft defenses were circulated on Twitter, the authenticity of which could not initially be independently confirmed. Reports of alleged attacks by the Ukrainian military on targets in Russia have been mounting for several days.
1.58 a.m .: Ukraine claims to have exposed a Russian spy on the general staff
According to their own account, the Ukrainian security authorities have dug up a ring of Russian agents. One of the spies even worked in the Ukrainian general staff, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyj’s adviser Oleksiy Arestovych on Monday night Information from the Ukrinform agency. He did not provide any information about the exact number of members of the spy ring.
However, Arestovych named one of their alleged goals. “These comrades should shoot down a passenger plane over Russia or Belarus and then blame Ukraine,” he said. Anti-aircraft missiles from Ukrainian stocks should therefore be used for this action.
1.50 a.m .: Özdemir wants to facilitate grain exports from Ukraine
Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) wants to help Ukraine to export grain that is stuck in Ukrainian ports. “We keep getting reports of targeted attacks by Russia on grain silos, fertilizer stores, agricultural land and infrastructure,” Özdemir told the editorial network Germany (Monday editions). Behind this is apparently the attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to “eliminate Ukraine as a competitor in the long term.”
Özdemir added: “With the growing hunger in the world, Russia is trying to build up pressure. At the same time, the massive increase in market prices suits Russia because it brings new money into the country.” At the meeting of the agriculture ministers of the G7 countries in mid-May, he will therefore talk to his colleagues about how access to world markets can still be guaranteed for Ukraine, said the Green politician.