Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has clearly stated that Ukraine must win the war against Russia. Poland’s president wants Vladimir Putin removed from office. Biden announces new weapons. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
8:20 a.m .: The Ambassador of Ukraine in Germany, Andriy Melnyk, struck a different tone for the first time and welcomed Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s (SPD) announcements about new arms deliveries. “We are happy that things have finally started to move and that the ice has been broken,” Melnyk told the “Stuttgarter Zeitung” and the “Stuttgarter Nachrichten” (Thursday editions). “The Iris system in particular has been something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for almost three months.”
Scholz had announced in the Bundestag on Wednesday the delivery of the modern Iris-T-SLM air defense system from the Diehl armaments group and a tracking radar. Melnyk told the newspapers he hopes the system will be ready in production by the summer. The training should start in August and the mission should begin in October. Melnyk gave the “Wirtschaftswoche” the costs at 140 million euros per piece. The Ukraine could purchase eleven other systems in the near future.
“We can finally say to Chancellor Scholz from the bottom of our hearts: Thank you!” said Melnyk. “Now one can really speak of a turning point for Ukraine. We hope for more modern weapon systems from Germany.”
According to Melnyk, the last shipment of German weapons arrived in Ukraine on May 3. Melnyk told the newspapers from Stuttgart: “For us, the Marder and the Leopard 1 remain on the agenda. We expect the go-ahead from the federal government to come quickly.”
6:56 a.m .: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has clearly stated that she wants Ukraine to win the war against Russia. The Greens politician was asked on Wednesday evening in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz” about Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s more cautious formulation that Russia should not win the war. “I say what the Chancellor says is true,” Baerbock replied. “Of course, Russia must not win this war, but must strategically lose it.” Russia is breaking with international law. “They want to destroy the peace in Ukraine. That’s why Ukraine must not lose under any circumstances – that means: Ukraine must win.”
8:54 p.m .: Specialist politicians from the Union and the traffic light coalition cleared up open questions about the use of the 100 billion euro package for the Bundeswehr in a special session of the Defense Committee. Clarifying documents on the procurement projects were delivered, politicians from the CDU and CSU told the German Press Agency on Wednesday evening. It was also said from the ranks of the traffic light parties that the matter was over. According to dpa information, the budget committee also approved the economic plan for the package on Wednesday. This clears the way for a vote in the Bundestag on Friday.
The traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP as well as the Union had agreed on the legal basis for the planned special fund on Sunday evening after weeks of wrangling. In principle, this gives the green light for weapon orders from the armaments industry on a large scale. Because the special fund is to be anchored in the Basic Law, a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag is required.
8:37 p.m .: Hungary is demanding further changes to the new EU sanctions package against Russia and is thus again blocking its entry into force. Specifically, the country is calling for the planned punitive measures against the Russian Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Kirill, to be abandoned, as several diplomats from the German Press Agency confirmed on Wednesday evening.
8:16 p.m .: According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine has revealed the world’s “suicidal dependence” on fossil fuels. At the same time, the war has distracted from the focus on combating the climate crisis, Guterres said on Wednesday in Stockholm before the start of the UN Environment Conference Stockholm 50.
“Obviously, when we have a dramatic situation of the scale of this war, unrivaled by any other conflict in recent decades, there is no avoiding the distraction of attention to other issues and the urgency of the climate debate has of course suffered from the war in Ukraine.” Guterres therefore again called for an immediate end to the war and more commitment from the international community in the fight against the climate crisis.
6:25 p.m .: Moscow has reacted calmly to the far-reaching boycott of Russian oil planned in the EU. The quantities released would be diverted in other directions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency Interfax. “Of course, these sanctions have a negative impact on the entire continent – on the Europeans and on us and on the entire global energy market.” Russia will minimize the negative consequences through systematic actions, said Peskov.
Even after the US oil embargo, the Russian leadership had declared that the quantities had been almost completely diverted to other markets. The revenue was bubbling up, it said. The EU also wants to use an oil boycott to prevent Russia from continuing to finance its war against Ukraine. Due to the high oil prices, a lot of money is currently flowing into the Russian state budget, which is heavily dependent on energy exports. The Europeans in particular would now have to live with the negative consequences – meaning above all the high energy prices – said Peskow.
6:22 p.m .: Russia warns that a “third country” could become involved in the Ukraine war. The delivery of modern US missile launchers to Ukraine increases the risk of another country getting involved in the conflict, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference in Saudi Arabia, according to Der Spiegel. The US plans to provide Ukraine with advanced missile systems.
The US government is supplying modern multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine to defend against Russian invasion as part of a new security package. The White House said Ukraine had pledged not to attack targets on Russian territory with the US-made HIMARS artillery system. Russia had previously warned that the US would pour “fuel on the fire” with such deliveries.
6:13 p.m .: According to a senior Russian MP, referendums on admission to the Russian Federation could be held in the Russian-controlled areas in eastern and southern Ukraine as early as next month. He estimates “that the liberated areas will hold a referendum more or less at the same time, which would be logical,” the chairman of the Duma’s foreign policy committee, Leonid Slutsky, told the Ria Novosti news agency on Wednesday.
He expects the referenda to take place in July, added Slutski, who is also a member of the Russian delegation to the peace talks with Ukraine that have been on hold for weeks.
Moscow refers to the Ukrainian regions it co-occupies with pro-Russian separatists as “liberated areas”. In addition to the self-proclaimed East Ukrainian “People’s Republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk, which Moscow has since recognized, these also include the areas around Cherson and Zaporizhia in the south of the country, which Russia has largely conquered since the end of February.
Kyiv had already accused Moscow in March of wanting to hold a referendum in the areas under its control along the lines of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. According to Russian MP Andrei Turchak, there is “no doubt” that all four regions would join Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov emphasized that it is up to the residents to decide their future. “We have no doubt that they will make the best decision,” he said. By occupying the territories, Russia controls the entire Azov Sea coast, creating a land connection between the annexed Crimean Peninsula and its territory.
6:09 p.m .: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg remains optimistic that Sweden and Finland can soon be admitted to NATO, despite Turkey’s concerns. “I am confident that we will find a way forward,” Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Wednesday. It is not the first time that there have been differences and disagreements in NATO. “But we have a long track record of success and we also have the ability to bridge those differences and come together on how to move forward.”
Blinken said: “There is a broad consensus within NATO for Sweden and Finland to join the alliance quickly.” In particular, the concerns that Turkey had expressed about Finland and Sweden would be addressed by the two countries with the support of NATO. “We want to make sure that the security concerns of all allies are addressed, and of course that includes Turkey,” Blinken said.
Asked if the US will sell F-16 fighter jets to the government in Ankara, Blinken said: “We have a long-standing and ongoing defense relationship with Turkey as a NATO ally. The cases will continue to be looked into,” arising in relation to the systems that Turkey intends to acquire”. In Washington, a possible deal was recently politically controversial.
Finland and Sweden had applied to join NATO in mid-May because of the Russian attack on Ukraine. Turkey is the only member of the alliance to oppose it. The government in Ankara has raised security concerns over alleged support from both countries for the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria.
6 p.m.: Germany also wants to deliver four multiple rocket launchers to Ukraine to support them in the war against Russia. The Mars II rocket launchers should come from Bundeswehr stocks and be made available by the end of June if possible, government circles said on Wednesday. The USA should therefore take over the training on the weapon system.
After initial hesitation, the USA, for its part, wants to supply Ukraine with multiple rocket launchers of the Himar type. However, US President Joe Biden called on Kyiv not to use these weapons for attacks on Russian territory. The Kremlin immediately condemned the announcement of the US arms delivery.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) initially announced the delivery of the modern Iris-T-SLM air defense system from the Diehl armaments group and a locating radar in the Bundestag on Wednesday. In his speech, he also referred to the delivery of multiple rocket launchers by the USA and referred to ongoing talks with Washington. He did not yet talk about specific German deliveries, but pointed out that Germany would make a contribution within the scope of its possibilities.
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