Ukraine crisis: Top German diplomat in Moscow - NATO Secretary General warns of "real risk" 

Created: 01/08/2022, 06:22 AM

From: Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld

Concern about a Russian invasion of Ukraine: In Moscow there was a crisis meeting behind the scenes.

Also there: the German diplomat Jens Plötner.

• Since a Russian troop deployment near the border, new concerns about a Russian-Ukrainian conflict have flared up.

• A crisis meeting on the Ukraine conflict was held in Moscow with participation from Germany and France.

• After a crisis meeting of the NATO foreign ministers, General Secretary Stoltenberg warned of a real threat.

  (see update from January 7th, 6.45pm)

• This news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from January 7th, 6.45pm:

After a crisis meeting of the NATO foreign ministers

, the Secretary General of the Defense Alliance warned of a “real” risk of a renewed Russian invasion of Ukraine.

"The risk of a conflict is real," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday after the video conference.

"Russia's aggressive actions seriously undermine the security order in Europe," he added.

NATO will take part in “a sincere and fundamental dialogue” with Russia, but “we must be prepared for the possibility of diplomacy failing,” Stoltenberg warned.

At the same time, he assured that the USA would not make any decisions about European security without Europe being at the negotiating table.

NATO Secretary General: Russia has a lot to lose in a conflict

Nobody knows whether Putin wants to invade Ukraine, said the European diplomat.

He added that Russia "has a great deal to lose in a conflict".

Moscow wants to "restore its sphere of influence over the countries in its neighborhood," he continued.

"It tries to push back NATO and wants to prevent an expansion of the Western defense alliance to include Ukraine and Georgia, and even Finland and Sweden."

But through its "aggressiveness" Russia provokes exactly "what it wants to prevent".

The positions within the alliance diverge.

Turkey speaks openly about the need for a partnership with Russia and Hungary makes no secret of its pro-Russian stance.

In Central Europe, however, negotiations with Moscow are negative.

Ukraine crisis: For Von der Leyen there is "no solution without the EU"

First report from January 7th:

Kiev / Moscow - Ursula Von der Leyen emphasized the role of the EU in the crisis region of Ukraine.

The EU Commission head is on a two-day visit to Paris with the EU Commissioners.

It is the official start of the French EU Council Presidency.

"There is no solution to the conflict without the EU," said von der Leyen.

She pointed out that the EU is supporting Ukraine with six billion euros and has imposed sanctions on Russia.

Emmanuel Macron * emphasized that, together with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), he is advocating the resumption of negotiations in the Normandy format, which includes France, Germany, Russia and the Ukraine.

It also justified the dialogue with Russia.

“The EU must keep talking to Russia.

That doesn't mean making concessions, ”said Macron, who had phoned Russian President Vladimir Putin twice in the past few weeks.

Ukraine crisis: German top diplomat in Moscow for crisis meeting

A crisis meeting on the Ukraine conflict was held in Moscow with participation from Germany and France. According to the responsible Kremlin official Dmitri Kosak, the Interfax agency announced on Thursday that it was also about familiarizing the new federal government with the problem. For the new Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz * (SPD), his foreign policy advisor Jens Plötner was there. The diplomat had previously held top positions in the Foreign Office dealing with the Ukraine conflict for years.

The diplomatic advisor to the French President Emmanuel Bonne and the foreign policy advisor to the German Chancellor Jens Ploetner travel on a horse-drawn sleigh to a meeting with the Russian Deputy President Dmitry Kozak in Normandy format to reduce tensions in Ukraine.

© Grigory Sysoev / Imago

All sides had confirmed their adherence to a peace plan agreed in Minsk (Belarus) in 2014, said Kosak.

Further contacts are also planned with Ukrainian participation.

As Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration, Kosak also prepares the summit in the so-called Normandy format with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin *.

The last time there was such a meeting was in Paris in 2019.

Since then, there have been several speculations about a new edition, without this becoming concrete.

Ukraine: USA accuses Russia of building troops - NATO discuss demands

In the group of four, France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine are trying to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine, which has been going on for almost eight years. The peace plan agreed in Minsk is on hold. Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of violating the agreement. According to UN estimates, more than 13,000 people have been killed in Donbass since 2014 in fighting between the Ukrainian government troops and the Russian-backed separatists. The EU and the USA, among others, have imposed sanctions on Russia because of the Ukraine * conflict. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his US colleague Lloyd Austin also called on Thursday. The US has been accusing Russia of building troops in areas on the border with Ukraine for weeks. It is fearedthat Russian troops could invade the ex-Soviet republic. Moscow denies such plans.

The foreign ministers of the 30 NATO countries will hold a video conference on Friday at 2 p.m. on the Russian demands for new security agreements.

In addition, the recent deployment of Russian troops near Ukraine will also be a topic of discussion.

According to Western intelligence services, this is related to Moscow's demands and is intended to fuel fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine in order to persuade NATO to make concessions.

NATO meeting on Friday: Discussions on Russia's demands in the face of the Ukraine crisis

Specifically, Russia wants to get the NATO states to undertake to refrain from military action in the territory of Ukraine and other states in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and in Central Asia. In addition, the western military alliance is to declare that it will refrain from further expansion and, in particular, from accepting Ukraine. Russia is also demanding that the US withdraw all US nuclear weapons from third countries. In the course of the so-called nuclear participation of NATO, these were also stationed in Germany. According to Moscow's wish, the “security guarantees” are to be laid down in an agreement with NATO and in a treaty with the USA. Russia presented drafts for both agreements in the week before Christmas.

At the special meeting of NATO foreign ministers, a course is now to be set for the upcoming talks with representatives of Russia. There will be meetings of negotiators from Moscow and Washington in Geneva in the coming week. A meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at ambassador level is also scheduled for Wednesday. The meeting will be the first since July 2019. Russia's demands are delicate for NATO. On the one hand, the alliance rejects most of Russia's demands as unacceptable. On the other hand, it wants to prevent Russia from invading Ukraine and a new war in Eastern Europe.

It is likely that NATO will respond to the Russian advance with counter-proposals.

For example, Moscow could be offered concrete talks on disarmament and transparency agreements.

The French government said on Thursday that there should be no fear of talks with Russia - even if most of the treaty proposals are unacceptable.

The tensions are so great that it is in everyone's interest to continue the dialogue.

Baerbock's visit to the United States as a minister was overshadowed by the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

We work closely with Washington.