President Zelenskyy underlined the achievements of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defence. Federal President Steinmeier has arrived in Japan – another topic is the exchange about the challenges posed by the Ukraine war. The developments in the live blog.
04:00 a.m
Steinmeier thanks Japan for help in the Ukraine war
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier paid tribute to the support of Japan and South Korea in the Ukraine war. “I would like to thank the partners for standing closely together against Russian aggression in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia,” he said just before the start of his visit to the two countries.
The Federal President and his wife Elke Büdenbender arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday morning (local time). “Japan and Korea are countries that, like us, are concerned about the developments in Eastern Europe since February 24. Both countries condemn Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” said Steinmeier during the flight to Tokyo. “Both countries are looking at rising global inflation and the consequences for the global economy with similar concerns as we are.” He is excited to learn how they dealt with these challenges.
One of the most important lessons from the Russian aggression is “that in future we must prevent one-sided dependencies wherever possible, and that we expand our relationships with partners who share our values,” emphasized Steinmeier, referring to Germany. “We will also rebalance the relationship in Southeast Asia.” Germany could learn politically and economically from Japan and Korea, especially in dealing with China’s growing claim to power.
4:16 a.m
Zelenskyy: Successes of the Ukrainian anti-aircraft defense
After a day of heavy Russian missile attacks, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy underlined the achievements of anti-aircraft defense. 45 of around 50 Russian cruise missiles and rockets were shot down, said Zelenskyj in his evening video message.
However, his country needs more weapons to defend against the attacks from the air, he said. But Russia already has to use more missiles to hit a target than it used to. “The world is seeing that what was once the second strongest army in the world is no longer even the 22nd in terms of effectiveness,” said Zelenskyy. “And we will do everything we can to get her out of the top 100.”
12:05 a.m
Deutsche Bahn complains about slow processing of grain exports
Deutsche Bahn complains that it cannot fully utilize its capacities for the export of Ukrainian grain because of the EU border bureaucracy. “We could drive even more if the border clearance at the EU’s external border were faster,” said a company spokesman for the “RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland” according to the preliminary report. In particular, the infrastructure and border processes at the EU’s external borders would have to be expanded and accelerated, said the railway spokesman. “In our view, central coordination – strategically and operationally – would allow larger volumes of freight to be transported by rail.” The demand for transport capacities is very high, the spokesman continued. “We drive as much as we can.”
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.