live blog
Status: 03/19/2022 01:27 am
The Russian military made tactical mistakes in Ukraine, according to US Secretary of Defense Austin. Ukrainian Parliament President Stefanchuk has confirmed clear conditions for peace negotiations. The developments in the live blog.
1:27 a.m
Zelenskyj demands honest negotiations from Moscow
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Russia to engage in serious and honest talks on a peace settlement. “Meaningful negotiations on peace and security for Ukraine, honest negotiations and without delays are the only chance for Russia to lessen the damage caused by its own mistakes,” Zelenskyy said in a video address late Friday evening.
If Ukraine’s territorial integrity is not restored, Russia will suffer “serious losses”. “It is time to establish territorial unity and justice for Ukraine,” said the Ukrainian head of state. “Otherwise Russia will suffer such losses that it will take several generations to get back on its feet.”
1:04 a.m
Jusos call for an immediate oil supply stop from Russia
In view of the Ukraine war, the Jusos are demanding an immediate stop in the supply of oil from Russia and are thus opposing Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). “We Jusos call for an immediate oil embargo if Putin doesn’t stop his war crimes on the spot,” said Juso chairwoman Jessica Rosenthal of the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. “Anyone who says we will use all our economic power to force Moscow to give in must not look on a day longer.” Chancellor Scholz, on the other hand, continues to rely on energy imports from Russia.
12:45 a.m
Ukraine: Head of parliament emphasizes red lines
The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as its state independence are and will remain the so-called red lines for Kyiv in the current peace negotiations with Russia. In a post on the Supreme Rada’s website, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, emphasized that these are “unchangeable”. Therefore, there can only be one result: “This is our victory.”
Stefantschuk is involved in the current negotiations with the enemy and the associated decision-making process. On the way to this “victory” one approaches the important points “step by step”. “We are moving in the right direction,” wrote Stefantschuk. But the Ukrainian people have already paid for their independence with the lives of many citizens. “And Russia is to blame for that.”
“It is important to us to restore security and to receive guarantees for the safe functioning of our state,” continued Stefanchuk. With regard to the recognition of the breakaway areas, the self-proclaimed “People’s Republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk, which Moscow is demanding, he stressed that these still lie within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders.
12:45 a.m
Austin: Russians make military mistakes
According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the Russian military made tactical mistakes in Ukraine. There have been a “series of missteps,” Austin said in an interview with US broadcaster CNN on Friday during his trip to Bulgaria. The Russian soldiers have not progressed as quickly in Ukraine as they had imagined. “They had imagined that they would move fast and take the capital very quickly, but they weren’t able to do that,” Austin said. He also assumed that the Russians would not use tactical information well. The cooperation between the air and ground forces is also not good. “So there are a number of things that we would have expected that we just didn’t see.”
The Pentagon keeps saying that the Russian military is making little progress in Ukraine. North and northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Russian soldiers would not make any more “significant advances” on the city, a senior US defense official said. There is no movement east of Kyiv either. The Pentagon assumes that Ukrainian airspace is still contested and that the Russians have not gained the upper hand.