Russia ready for talks with Ukraine Sharp criticism of Olaf Scholz Baltic states end electricity imports from Russia The developments in the Ukraine war in the stern ticker.
Day 89 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine: Fighting in eastern Ukraine continues with undiminished intensity. According to Ukrainian sources, at least eight people were killed by Russian fire. During the night there were air raids and attacks in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Avdiivka and other Ukrainian cities and regions.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Poland want to take the first step towards Ukraine’s integration into the EU. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine wants to introduce joint customs control with Poland, which is “the beginning of our integration into the common customs space of the European Union”. In Poland, Ukrainians were given “de facto and de jure the same opportunities” as Polish citizens. Similarly, Selenskyj wants to introduce a law in Ukraine.
4:33 p.m .: Refugees from Ukraine can apply for Hartz IV
As of June 1, the care of refugees from Ukraine will be the responsibility of the job centers – those affected can already submit applications, including online, as the Federal Employment Agency (BA) announced. However, a decision will only be made once the legal regulations have been established. They still have to be published in the Federal Law Gazette.
From June 1st, refugees from the Ukraine are entitled to Hartz IV if they have a residence permit and are in need of help and able to work. With the change from the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act to basic security, the amount of the standard rate increases, the actual housing costs are covered and people are accepted into the statutory health insurance, as the BA explained. It is also the task of the job center to support people entering the job and training market, as the BA emphasized. The refugees are also to be supported with childcare and the recognition of educational qualifications. The aim is to “educate people in an appropriate way”.
2:31 p.m .: Hungary puts pressure on EU partners in the oil embargo against Russia
In the struggle for an EU oil embargo against Russia, Hungary continues to put pressure on its European partners. At a ministerial meeting in Brussels ahead of a week’s EU summit, Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga said Monday her country needs “an enormous amount of money” to invest in alternatives to Russian oil.
Hungary is “in ongoing negotiations with the EU Commission,” Varga said. So far, however, there is no suitable plan. “We are waiting for a new proposal and then we can make progress,” she stressed.
1:48 p.m .: UNHCR counts more than 6.5 million refugees from Ukraine
Before the war in Ukraine, more than 6.5 million people fled abroad. This emerges from the latest figures from the UN refugee agency UNHCR, which were published in Geneva. Among the neighboring countries, Poland has taken in by far the most Ukrainian refugees, at 3.5 million.
Almost two million people have also re-entered Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24. According to the UNHCR, it is still unclear how many of them have returned permanently to their homeland and how many commute in and out. Before the war, the country had around 44 million inhabitants.
1:47 p.m.: Cheetah delivery to Ukraine to be completed by the end of August
The delivery of 30 Gepard anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine should be completed before September if possible. After the previously announced provision of 15 Gepard tanks by mid-July, the rest should be delivered by the industry by the end of August, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Defense said on Monday in Berlin. Accordingly, Ukraine’s contracts with industry are expected to be concluded this week.
This also envisages the training of Ukrainian cheetah crews by the industry itself, the spokesman said. The Bundeswehr supports this, among other things, by providing suitable shooting ranges.
1:34 p.m.: Zelenskyy – 87 dead in Russian attack on May 17th
According to the leadership in Kyiv, 87 people were killed in a Russian attack on a village with a Ukrainian military base in the north of the country last week. So many fatalities have now been discovered under the rubble in the village of Desna, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in a video address to participants at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Russian forces attacked the village in the Chernihiv region on May 17, the president said. The local authorities had initially spoken of eight fatalities and twelve injured in the past week.
1:29 p.m .: Röttgen for rapid associated EU membership of Ukraine
In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen has proposed that Ukraine should quickly become an associated member of the European Union. One should not “showcase” Ukraine’s EU accession candidate status if one knows that in 10, 15 or 20 years nothing will come of full membership, said Röttgen at the presentation of his book “Never Again Helpless! A Manifesto in Times of War ” together with the head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, in Berlin. Fast and feasible solutions are now needed. The same applies to the states of the Western Balkans.
12:55 p.m .: Poland terminates gas supply contract with Russia
The Polish government has decided to terminate its gas supply contract with Russia, which has been in force since 1993. As the Polish news agency PAP reported, both Climate Minister Anna Moskwa and the Government Plenipotentiary for Energy Infrastructure, Piotr Naimski, confirmed this.
“After almost 30 years, it can be said that gas relations between Poland and Russia have ceased to exist,” Naimski announced on Polish Public Radio and on Facebook. Minister Moskva said on Twitter: “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has confirmed the determination of the Polish government to become completely independent of Russian gas. We have always known that Gazprom is not a reliable partner.”
12.47 p.m .: Selenskyj calls for even stricter sanctions against Russia in Davos
In the opening speech at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “maximum sanctions” against Russia. For example, an embargo on Russian energy sources is necessary, said Selenskyj in his speech, which was shown as a video address in Davos, Switzerland. Three months after the beginning of the Russian war of aggression, the 44-year-old also thanked for the international support. “The world believes in Ukraine,” he said. After the speech, many listeners stood up and applauded.
Zelenskyy also invited foreign companies to take part in the reconstruction of the destroyed Ukrainian cities after the end of the war. Frozen Russian property should also be used for financing, he suggested. In view of the impending hunger crises in the world, Zelenskyj also called for negotiations on access to blocked Ukrainian seaports in order to be able to ship urgently needed food from there.
12.01 p.m .: Russian convicted in first war crimes trial in Kyiv
A 21-year-old Russian soldier has been sentenced to life imprisonment in Ukraine’s first war crimes trial. The court in Kyiv on Monday saw it as proven after the man’s confession that the tanker shot an unarmed 62-year-old civilian after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 28. This was the first case to go to court after global outrage at Russian atrocities in Ukraine. The accused now has 30 days to appeal. The judgment is not yet final.
Prosecutors had asked for life imprisonment. The defense pleaded for acquittal because the soldier had carried out an order. It is the first war crimes case to go to trial in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion.
The Siberian tank soldier apologized to a great deal of international attention. “I regret it. I regret it very much. I did not refuse and I am ready to accept any measures that are imposed,” he said in his closing remarks last week.
12:00 p.m .: According to the Bundesbank, the Russian economy is at risk of massive damage from war
From the Bundesbank’s point of view, Russia is threatened with considerable economic damage as a result of the Ukraine war. According to the Bundesbank’s monthly report published on Monday, major losses are not only to be expected in the short term, but also in the longer term. Existing structural problems are likely to worsen considerably: “All in all, Russia is heading towards losing a considerable part of its prosperity in the long term.”
The experts at the Bundesbank see problems in both industry and the service sector. Russia continues to be heavily dependent on foreign intermediate goods. “The new export bans in Western countries and the delivery restrictions imposed by many companies are likely to hit Russian industry particularly hard.” Russian exporters would have to look around for new sales markets and logistics options. “All in all, the Russian industry is threatened with high efficiency losses and technological regression as a result of the extensive international isolation.”
11:27 a.m .: Habeck is pushing for the EU’s oil embargo against Russia
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) is pushing for a joint decision by the EU states to boycott oil supplies from Russia. He accepts that some countries still need time for this, Habeck told Deutschlandfunk on Monday. But there should be no “continue as before”.
In the interview, Habeck expressed his disappointment that an EU decision on the oil embargo has not yet been made. The main reasons for this are resistance from Hungary, but also from a number of other Eastern European countries. The Greens politician criticized “cheating” in which other EU countries were also involved. However, Habeck rejected national solo efforts with an embargo, with which the EU wants to tighten its sanctions against Russia because of its war of aggression against Ukraine.
10:39 a.m .: The Ifo business climate continues to brighten surprisingly
The mood in the German economy brightened in May and was thus able to recover somewhat from the slump at the beginning of the Ukraine war. The Ifo business climate rose by 1.1 points compared to April to 93.0 points, as the Ifo Institute announced on Monday in Munich after a survey of around 9,000 companies. On the other hand, analysts had expected a slowdown to 91.4 points on average. In March, Germany’s most important economic barometer collapsed due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has since recovered slightly.
“There are currently no signs of a recession,” commented Ifo President Clemens Fuest. Despite fears of inflation, material shortages and the war in Ukraine, the German economy is proving to be robust. “Above all, the companies were noticeably more satisfied with the current business,” added Fuest. Expectations, on the other hand, have hardly changed, so companies remain skeptical.
10:07 a.m .: EU debt rules should also remain suspended in 2023
Because of the economic uncertainties in the Ukraine war, the EU Commission wants to suspend the common debt rules until the end of next year, a year longer than previously planned. On Monday, the Brussels authority proposed that member states extend the use of an exception clause until the end of 2023. Actually, the Stability and Growth Pact should take effect again from January.
The Commission cited “strong downside risks to the economic outlook against the background of the war in Ukraine” as well as “unprecedented energy price increases and ongoing disruptions to the supply chain” for the further suspension of the pact. The EU suspended the Stability Pact in spring 2020 due to the corona pandemic in order to enable member countries to receive economic aid worth billions.
9.35 a.m .: According to US President Biden, Putin wants to erase the identity of Ukraine
According to US President Joe Biden, Russia’s head of state Vladimir Putin is trying to “erase the identity of Ukraine”. This was shown by the Russian bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine, including schools, hospitals and museums, Biden said at a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Monday in Tokyo. Putin cannot occupy Ukraine but undermine its identity. “I think Putin is trying to erase Ukraine’s identity,” said the US President. Biden emphasized that Putin had to pay a high price for his “barbarism” in Ukraine, with a view to the sanctions against Russia.
9:33 a.m .: According to the British, Russia’s losses are as high as those of the Soviets in Afghanistan
After only three months of war, the losses of the Russian army in the Ukraine are probably as high as those of the Red Army in the nine years of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. This is what British intelligence experts appreciate, according to a statement by the Ministry of Defense in London. The high loss rate is also increasing in the Russian offensive in Donbass. The reason for this is a combination of factors such as poor tactics, limited air superiority and a lack of flexibility.
The British intelligence experts assume that the many Russian deaths are likely to be reflected in the public perception of the war in the country. “The Russian public has historically been sensitive to casualties in wars that were not forced upon the country,” the statement said. With a growing number of deaths, dissatisfaction among Russians and the willingness to express it could also increase.
9.10 a.m.: Bushman concerned about fate of Mariupol POWs
Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) has expressed concern about the fate of prisoners of war from the Ukrainian port of Mariupol. “Russia’s massive violations of international law are completely unacceptable,” Buschmann told the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”. At the same time, this leads to “great concern with regard to the population of Ukraine and the soldiers who have now been taken prisoner”.
“War is a bloody beast, but not a rule-free state,” warned the minister. From the point of view of the CDU foreign affairs expert and MEP Michael Gahler, there are fears of show trials, although Russia has no right to treat the prisoners of Mariupol differently from all other Ukrainian prisoners of war. With a view to Russian war crimes, Gahler demanded: “The people involved must be registered by us and, if the case arises, charged according to the principle of universal jurisdiction, even in their absence.”
8.47 a.m .: Strack-Zimmermann regrets failures in arms deliveries to Ukraine
The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann regretted failures in German arms deliveries to Ukraine. The chairwoman of the Bundestag Defense Committee admitted on the broadcasters RTL and ntv that a lead time was required for this. “The annoying thing is that you could have started weeks ago. That’s actually the bitter thing,” she added.
The FDP politician is currently demanding better communication about arms deliveries from the Chancellery. “so that the impression doesn’t arise that we’re not doing anything here”. In principle, work is currently being done on the provision of heavy weapons such as the Panzerhaubitze 2000 and the Gepard infantry fighting vehicle, said Strack-Zimmermann. However, the Federal Government and specifically the Federal Chancellery do not want to talk about it out loud.
“I regret that,” said the committee chair. “I believe that communication needs to change.” However, the fact that the weapons were not delivered so quickly is not unusual. The equipment had to be set up and prepared, and soldiers had to be trained. That takes time.
8:23 a.m .: Ukrainian military warns of activities on the Belarusian border
The former Soviet republic of Belarus, which has not yet actively participated in the Russian-Ukrainian war, is assembling forces at the border, according to information from Kyiv. “The Belarusian armed forces are conducting increased reconnaissance and have set up additional units in the border area,” the Ukrainian general staff said in its situation report on Monday. Accordingly, the danger of rocket and air attacks on Ukraine from Belarusian territory remains.
The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko did not take part with his own troops in the war against Ukraine that Russia started at the end of February. However, Russian troops were allowed to use the country as a staging area for the attack. Kyiv therefore does not see Minsk as neutral and fears that Belarusian soldiers could potentially intervene in the conflict on the part of Russia. Lukashenko, who is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi on Monday, has always denied such intentions.
8.08 a.m .: Lambrecht “optimistic” about agreement on Bundeswehr special funds
Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is optimistic about a speedy agreement on the Bundeswehr special fund. “At the moment I have the feeling that everyone (…) really wants to pull together and equip the Bundeswehr as they urgently need it,” she said in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”. She is “very optimistic” that there will be an agreement before the summer break.
The background is a dispute over the structure of the special fund for the Bundeswehr between the coalition and the Union. The main issue is how NATO’s goal of spending two percent of gross national product on defense should be anchored in law.
7.23 a.m .: Selenskyj admits high losses in eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has put the daily losses of his own troops on the front in eastern Ukraine at 50 to 100 soldiers. “Today between 50 and 100 people can die on the front in the east of our country, which is the hardest for us,” said Zelenskyj at a joint press conference with Poland’s President Andrzej Duda on Sunday, according to the RBK-Ukraina news agency. “They protect our freedom and independence, which is talked about all over the world.” With the high losses, he justified the rejection of a petition to allow men of military age to leave Ukraine.
Most recently, the Ukrainian President disclosed his own losses in mid-April. At that time he spoke of a total of around 3,000 Ukrainian soldiers who had died since the Russian attack on February 24. However, the President’s Office has refused to provide precise figures. Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich explained that this was a war secret.
5.11 a.m .: Putin’s adviser: Russia ready for talks
According to a Putin adviser, Russia is ready to resume talks with Kyiv. However, he sees Ukraine under pressure, said Vladimir Medinski on Sunday evening on Belarusian state television. Medinsky also did not rule out a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy. But this requires “serious preparation”, such as documents that the presidents can then sign. There was initially no reaction to the statements from the Ukrainian side. Ukraine suspended negotiations to end the war on Tuesday.
4.30 a.m .: Kiesewetter accuses Scholz of playing for time when it comes to weapon deliveries
The CDU politician Kiesewetter has denounced the government course in the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine. He accused Chancellor Scholz (SPD) of hesitation and a game for time on Sunday evening. CDU leader Friedrich Merz had previously criticized the government. Kiesewetter said on Sunday evening on “Anne Will” (read more about the talk on Sunday here): “German industry made it clear on February 28 that it could very quickly train around 100 leopards and around 100 martens.” To date, however, there has been no order. When asked why, Kiesewetter said: “I’m afraid the Chancellor doesn’t want Ukraine to win this war. Wins in the sense that the Russian troops are driven out of the country.”
2.27 a.m .: Baltic states stop importing electricity from Russia
The Baltic states have stopped importing electricity from Russia because of the Ukraine war. “This is an important step on our way to energy independence,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys told AFP on Sunday. “By refusing to import Russian energy resources, we are refusing to finance the aggressor,” the minister said.
On Friday, the Nord Pool energy exchange sent a message to the Russian energy supplier InterRao that it was barred from trading in the Baltic States due to international sanctions. Latvia imported its last Russian electricity in early May, while Lithuania and Estonia stopped purchasing electricity on Sunday. Russian electricity accounted for 17 percent of Lithuania’s electricity imports last year.
1.35 a.m .: Mayor appointed by Russia injured in explosion
The Moscow-appointed mayor of the southern Ukrainian city of Enerhodar was wounded in an explosion. He has confirmation that pro-Russian mayor Andrei “Shevchik and his bodyguards were injured in the explosion,” Dmytro Orlov, Ukraine’s elected mayor of Enerhodar, told Telegram on Sunday. They are in the hospital “with injuries of varying severity.” Otherwise no one was injured.
Enerhodar is located near Zaporizhia and is the site of the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. Russian troops took control there at the end of February. Located on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River, Zaporizhia is still held by Ukraine.
Russian news agency Ria Novosti, citing a source in the emergency services, reported that Shevchik was in intensive care. According to security circles, the explosion is said to have been triggered by an “improvised explosive device”, as the news agency further reported.
1.19 a.m .: SPD threatens Union in the dispute over Bundeswehr special funds to go it alone
In the dispute over the passing of the special fund for the Bundeswehr, the SPD parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Rolf Mützenich, threatened the Union with going it alone by the traffic light coalition. If the CDU and CSU opposed each other in the Bundestag with a view to the necessary two-thirds majority for an amendment to the Basic Law, then there were “other ways than the military constitution” to provide the hundred billion euros, said Mützenich of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (FAZ, Monday edition) .
“If Germany is in an emergency situation, Article 115 allows borrowing with a simple majority,” said Mützenich. At the same time, he again warned opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) against “tactical games” in the vote.
The SPD parliamentary group leader said that the coalition still had to agree with the Union on how NATO’s goal of spending two percent of gross national product on defense should be anchored. “NATO leaves open what needs to be planned in the national budgets to achieve this goal.” The defense budget of 50 billion euros and the additional 100 billion euros should be used to reach the target for NATO.
