Ramzan Kadyrov describes the federal government as “schizophrenic”. Turkey puts the brakes on Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession talks. And the EU wants to become less dependent on Russian gas. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
9:49 p.m .: In the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk asked Germany and France to mediate peace in a new edition of the Normandy format. “The Normandy format has not been abolished – despite Putin having started this war. We assume that Germany and France are able to continue to play the role of mediator,” said Melnyk in a video interview with the editorial network Germany (RND). Melnyk pointed out that Scholz and French President Macron regularly telephoned Putin. “That means there is a certain level of trust. It would be wrong if you didn’t take this chance,” explained Melnyk. There is trust in Germany and in France in Ukraine – probably also in Russia. “These are the prerequisites for stopping this barbaric war that Russia has unleashed.”
7:51 p.m .: The US has reopened its diplomatic mission in Kyiv. The US State Department announced on Wednesday that additional measures had been taken to ensure the safety of colleagues returning to Kyiv. The US flag was hoisted on the building. Initially, only a small number of employees should start work on site, consular work will remain suspended.
The embassy was closed for almost three months. Most other Western countries had also closed their embassies or relocated staff to other cities.
5:03 p.m .: As part of a ring exchange, Germany wants to deliver 15 Leopard 2 A4 tanks to the Czech Republic – and thereby enable Czech weapons to be transferred to Ukraine. “Czech Republic is supplying heavy weapons, we are helping to close the gaps with Leopard tanks from German industrial stocks,” said Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on Wednesday in Berlin. The exchange of rings is a “very good example of how we can quickly and easily support Ukraine in its courageous fight against Russian aggression”.
The Czech cabinet approved the exchange procedure on Wednesday. According to information from the Federal Ministry of Defense, the Leopard tanks come from the stocks of the German defense industry. In addition to the tanks, ammunition and spare parts are also to be delivered to the Czech Republic. In addition, the Bundeswehr will support the training of Czech soldiers. The federal government will bear the costs.
4:31 p.m .: The head of the Russian republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus, Ramzan Kadyrov, criticizes the policy of the change in the era of Chancellor Olaf Scholz in view of the western arms deliveries, who “behaves like a schizophrenic” and not like a “state leader”. That’s what Kadyrov said at a political forum.
At the same event the day before, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Germany of being under US influence. “After the current government of Germany came to power, it has lost its last signs of independence,” he said.
2:48 p.m .: Turkey initially blocked the start of accession talks with Finland and Sweden in NATO. As the German Press Agency learned from alliance circles, it was not possible on Wednesday morning in the NATO Council, as originally planned, to make the decision necessary to start the admission process.
Surf tip: Politics – What is NATO? What does alliance mean? Easily explained
12:59 p.m .: In order to become independent of Russian energy, the European Union must invest up to 300 billion euros by 2030, according to the EU Commission. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented a plan on Wednesday to move away from fossil fuels in Russia and accelerate the energy transition.
“We have to reduce our dependence on Russia in the energy sector as quickly as possible,” said von der Leyen. This requires significant investments and reforms. “We are mobilizing up to 300 billion euros for this purpose.” The plan will help to save energy, Accelerate the phase-out of fossil fuels and stimulate investment “This will turbo-charge our European ‘Green Deal’,” von der Leyen said. The goal is to stop buying energy from Russia within the decade.
Von der Leyen proposed increasing the EU’s energy saving target for 2030 from 9 to 13 percent. She also proposed increasing the target for the share of renewable energy in the EU from 40 percent to 45 percent by 2030.
To achieve this, the Commission wants, among other things, to shorten the approval process for renewable energy projects, introduce a solar roof requirement and import more climate-friendly hydrogen. In addition, investments are to be made in infrastructure – in electricity networks, but also in gas and oil pipelines. Countries like Hungary, which are particularly dependent on Russian oil, are to receive a total of up to two billion euros to get rid of it.
1 p.m.: Russia has ordered the expulsion of 34 French diplomats in retaliation. The French Ambassador Pierre Lévy was handed a note on Wednesday declaring 34 employees of the French mission abroad to be “undesirable persons”, according to the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. You now have two weeks to leave the country.
The French government condemned the expulsions “in the strongest terms”. According to the Foreign Ministry in Paris, the decision was presented by the Russian government as a “response” to the expulsion of “Russian agents” from France. The diplomats and staff at the French embassy in Russia, on the other hand, “completely” complied with the rules of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
In April, France expelled 41 Russian diplomats from the country in view of the Russian military operation in Ukraine. According to the Foreign Ministry in Paris, some of them had worked as secret agents in France “under diplomatic cover”.
Russia protested Wednesday against “the provocative and unfounded decision” to expel Russian diplomats, the Foreign Ministry said. With the expulsion of Russian diplomats, France is doing “serious damage to Franco-Russian relations and constructive bilateral cooperation.”
8:08 a.m .: Sweden and Finland have officially applied for NATO membership. Ambassadors from the two countries handed over the relevant documents to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday morning at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels.
The reason for Sweden and Finland’s desire to join the military alliance are security concerns that arose in the countries in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Until then, both states had resolutely pursued a policy of military non-alignment.
The NATO Council will now deal with the applications for membership. It is made up of representatives of the 30 alliance states, who have to make a consensus decision on how to proceed.
7:01 a.m.: According to Reuters news agency, the US is considering blocking Russian debt payments by allowing a key license to expire next week on May 25. As a result, Russia would no longer be able to pay off its US bondholders. This could bring Moscow to the brink of insolvency. “We are considering all options to increase pressure on Putin,” a US government official said.
So far, Moscow has managed to make its international bond payments despite Western sanctions. Just last month, Russia made overdue payments to avoid a default. The country is in debt with international bonds worth 40 billion dollars.
6:39 a.m .: The Italian energy giant Eni apparently bows to the Russian specifications for the payment of gas deliveries. The company will open an account in euros and one in rubles with Gazprombank “in the coming days”, Eni said on Tuesday. In this way, the payment obligations in euros can be met, and the Russian bank will then convert them into rubles.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered gas deliveries to be paid for in rubles. The Europeans see this as a subsequent change in the current treaties and reject it. Companies complying with Russian demands risk being prosecuted for violating EU sanctions.
According to Eni, the Russian authorities confirmed that “invoicing and payment will continue to be made in euros” and “an operator of the Moscow Stock Exchange will carry out the conversion into rubles within 48 hours without the involvement of the Central Bank of Russia”. Initially, Moscow had envisaged a conversion mechanism via the central bank, but this would clearly violate EU sanctions.
Another Kremlin decree then introduced a new two-step payment procedure, whereby first deposits are made in euros or dollars in one Gazprombank account and then converted into rubles in a second account at the same institution. On Tuesday, however, a spokesman for the EU Commission confirmed that opening a ruble account at Gazprombank already constitutes a violation of EU sanctions.
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