Russia’s president calls for Western sanctions to be lifted. In the meantime, gas delivery through Nord Stream 1 has started again after the maintenance work. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
6:20 a.m .: After the maintenance of Nord Stream 1, gas delivery through the German-Russian pipeline started again on Thursday morning. Gas is flowing again, a spokesman for Nord Stream AG told the German Press Agency. According to the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, 30 percent of the maximum possible gas volume should flow through the pipeline.
6:08 a.m .: Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) claims to have learned new diplomatic tricks in her first phone call with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. “Part of talks with Russia is a kind of game where it’s about showing off to others,” said Baerbock as part of the “RND on site” talk series of the editorial network Germany. She therefore prepares “intensively” for “little tricks” so as not to “let herself be taken on ice.”
During her first phone call with Lavrov, the phone line suddenly got so bad that she could barely understand anything, Baerbock reported. Her Russian counterpart, on the other hand, insisted that the line was flawless. “It was incredibly exhausting,” said Baerbock. Finally she explained to him that she had understood him to mean that he had agreed to talk about Ukraine again. Lavrov rejected this. “Then the line was clean again,” said Baerbock.
5:53 a.m .: The journalist Marina Ovsjannikova, who became known through her live protest action on Russian television against the military operation in Ukraine, has to answer in court from Thursday. The 44-year-old is accused of “discrediting” the Russian army. At the trial in Moscow, she faces a long prison sentence.
Ovzyannikova became internationally known when she appeared behind the news anchor during a live broadcast on March 14, holding a sign that read “No War” for the camera. The journalist then spent several months abroad and worked briefly for the German newspaper “Die Welt”, among other things. The 44-year-old is now back in Russia. Last week she demonstrated again near the Kremlin against the military operation in Ukraine and called President Vladimir Putin a “killer”.
Thursday, July 1, 5:01 a.m.: International experts have documented serious and mass violations of international humanitarian law by Russian troops since the beginning of the war against Ukraine. The Warsaw-based electoral and human rights office ODIHR of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) presented a report supporting the allegations. Particularly serious cases are the shelling of the theater full of refugees in Mariupol in mid-March and the busy Kramatorsk train station in early April.
The ODIHR also expressed dismay at the sieges of cities. Civilians were not given the opportunity to evacuate. The actions of the Russian troops violated every principle of proportionality and consideration. Witnesses reported many cases of illegal executions, detentions, torture, sexual violence and kidnappings.
The Ukrainian army also violated international humanitarian law, albeit to a lesser extent, the report said. Violence against suspected looters was criticized. Both sides would also violate applicable international law when dealing with prisoners of war.
The 53-page body of material was specifically identified as an ODIHR report, not an OSCE report. The largest security organization in Europe has been largely paralyzed by the conflict with key member Russia.
10:30 p.m .: Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) expects unrest in Germany if gas supplies from Russia fail to materialize. In the negotiations with Canada about the export of a gas turbine serviced there, possible domestic political effects played an important role, said Baerbock as part of the “RND on site” talk series of the editorial network Germany.
“The Canadians said, ‘We have a lot of questions’, so we said, ‘We can understand that, but if we don’t get the gas turbine, then we won’t get any more gas, and then we won’t be able to support Ukraine at all perform because we are then busy with popular uprisings,” said the Foreign Minister verbatim. When asked if she was really counting on popular uprisings, Baerbock said that that was “perhaps a bit exaggerated”, but also emphasized “if we ran out of gas”. And further: “That’s exactly my point, that we still need gas from Russia.”
The high gas prices are a major burden for many people in Germany, the Foreign Minister continued. “This is our important task for the winter, we must ensure that this war does not lead to a division in society,” she added. “It is the task of the federal government to cushion social skills.”
9.45 p.m .: With a “grain bridge”, Deutsche Bahn wants to bring grain intended for export from Ukraine to the German ports of Rostock, Hamburg and Brake near Bremerhaven, among other places. The network set up for the transport of relief supplies is now being “turned” and is supposed to bring grain to the seaports by freight train, the logistics subsidiary DB Cargo announced in Berlin on Wednesday. Several trains a week should be on their way. The NDR had previously reported on it.
Exact quantities cannot be given yet, “we drive as much grain as possible,” said a spokesman. According to the information, a large part of the transports should go through Romania, since the country not only shares a long border with Ukraine, but also has a good infrastructure for agricultural transport. But the logistics subsidiaries, for example in Poland, should also take part in the transports.
7:07 p.m .: According to the head of the Federal Network Agency, the Russian gas company Gazprom has reduced the gas delivery volume announced for Thursday via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. According to the announcements, around 530 gigawatt hours would now be delivered on Thursday, Klaus Müller tweeted on Wednesday evening. According to him, that would be about 30 percent occupancy. Further changes are possible. Before the scheduled maintenance on the pipeline ended Thursday , the pipeline was about 40 percent utilized .
In an interview with ZDFheute moderator Christopher Wehrmann, Müller continued: “That’s better than nothing, but of course it’s not what was contractually agreed.” You now have to wait for tomorrow to see what will actually be delivered.
When asked what significance Canada’s repaired turbine would have on gas supplies from a Russian perspective, Müller said it was on the way and it now had to be coordinated with Gazprom. “It’s not easy, though.” According to the Federal Network Agency, the line is built redundantly: “It is not dependent on a turbine,” says Müller. Russia’s arguments did not convince him.
Previously, Müller had mentioned 800 gigawatt hours on Twitter and referred to registrations with transport network operators – so-called nominations. That would have equated to a higher utilization than before the maintenance. However, this would also have used less than 50 percent of the pipeline. Nominations serve network operators to guarantee the transport and can change until shortly before the start of delivery. According to Müller, Gazprom has now made such a re-nomination.
6:27 p.m .: During a speech in the Capitol in Washington, the Ukrainian first lady Olena Selenska urgently asked the United States for more weapons and specifically for air defense systems. In a speech to congressmen and senators on Wednesday, Zelenska accused Russia of waging a “war of terror” against her country, according to the translator. During her lecture, in which she showed pictures of murdered Ukrainian children, among other things, she thanked the USA for their support. “While Russia kills, America saves,” Zelenska said. “But unfortunately the war isn’t over, the terror continues.” So she felt compelled to ask for weapons.
“Weapons that are not used to wage a war in a foreign country, but to protect one’s homeland,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky’s wife. “I ask for air defense systems so that rockets don’t kill children in their prams, so rockets don’t destroy children’s rooms and kill whole families.” She appealed to the Americans: “Help us to stop this terror against the Ukrainians.”
Selenska complained that the war was depriving the Ukrainians of normality. “Will my son be able to return to his school in the fall? I don’t know, like millions of mothers in Ukraine. Will my daughter be able to go to university at the beginning of the academic year and have a normal student life? I can not answer that. What should Ukrainian teachers prepare for – to work in classrooms or in bunkers? We would have answers if we had anti-aircraft systems.”
5.40 p.m .: The EU wants to tighten its sanctions against the largest Russian bank. According to information from the German Press Agency, Sberbank will in future be one of those financial institutions whose funds and economic resources can be frozen. In addition, no more funds or economic resources may be made available to the bank. Exceptions should only be made for transactions related to the trade in products from the agricultural and food sector.
The EU imposed the first sanctions on Sberbank in early June. At that time it was decided to exclude the bank from the financial communication network Swift. Financial data is exchanged worldwide via the messaging service for payment transactions.
The new punitive measures against Sberbank are due to come into force this Thursday as part of the seventh EU sanctions package against Russia. The committee of permanent representatives of the member states initiated the written decision-making process in Brussels on Wednesday, as confirmed by diplomats from the German Press Agency. It is considered a formality as the procedure is usually only approved when all EU capitals have cleared their objections.
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