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Ukraine conflict: Zelenskyy at odds with Biden over Russia - phone call "didn't go well"

2022-01-29T05:17:09.210Z


Ukraine conflict: Zelenskyy at odds with Biden over Russia - phone call "didn't go well" Created: 01/29/2022, 06:10 By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld The Ukraine crisis is getting worse. Russia is attracting attention with a disguised threat of war. All information in the news ticker. In the Ukraine conflict*, Russia is continuing to deploy troops on the border. A military invas


Ukraine conflict: Zelenskyy at odds with Biden over Russia - phone call "didn't go well"

Created: 01/29/2022, 06:10

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Anna-Katharina Ahnefeld

The Ukraine crisis is getting worse.

Russia is attracting attention with a disguised threat of war.

All information in the news ticker.

  • In the Ukraine conflict*, Russia is continuing to deploy troops on the border.

    A military invasion is feared.

  • Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has criticized the fact that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) visited Ukraine before her inaugural visit to Moscow

    (see update from January 28, 1:45 p.m.)

    .

  • Russia has imposed entry bans on representatives of several EU countries

    (see update from January 28, 5:53 p.m.).

  • This news ticker is updated regularly.

Update from January 28, 21:20:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj criticizes the rhetoric of some heads of state and government in the conflict with Russia.

According to Zelensky, they overestimate the danger of a war between Kiev and Moscow.

This creates "panic" and destabilizes the Ukrainian economy.

Although the danger from the Kremlin is "threatening and constant", the Ukrainian population has learned to live with it after the invasion in 2014.

"They say tomorrow is the war.

That means panic,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Friday evening

(January 28)

.

Earlier, the American broadcaster CNN, citing Ukrainian officials, reported that the phone call between US President Joe Biden and Zelenskyy "didn't go well".

According to this, Biden and Zelenskyy would have different views on the timing of a possible Russian aggression.

While Ukraine insists that Moscow does not yet have enough troops on the border for an immediate attack, the US is anticipating an invasion anytime soon.

Ukraine conflict: phone call between Biden and Zelenskyj apparently "didn't go well"

Biden is said to have advised Selenskyj to prepare for the "attack by Russian troops". He also hinted that the capital, Kiev, could be taken by the Russian army, Ukrainian officials told CNN. According to Biden, another Russian invasion of Ukraine is almost certain. However, Zelenskyj does not share this view. He reportedly told Biden that the threat was "dangerous but uncertain."

"I am the President of Ukraine, I live here and I think I know the details better than any other President," Zelenskyy said in a statement to reporters. He does not want to be grateful to the United States "just because it is the United States". He has no problems with Biden and does not criticize him. However, the only thing that matters is that he understands everything that is happening in his country more deeply than Biden. After all, Biden understands better than anyone what is happening in the United States.

Update from January 28, 9 p.m.:

According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, an escalation of the Ukraine conflict can be prevented. "Conflict is not inevitable," Austin told journalists in Washington. "There is still time and place for diplomacy," he added. Russian President Vladimir Putin could also "do the right thing," said Austin, who rarely appears before the press. There is no reason "that this situation has to lead to a conflict". Putin could decide to "de-escalate" and "withdraw his troops".

US Chief of Staff Mark Milley has warned of the destruction and casualties that a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops would result in.

If war really did break out, "it would result in a significant number of casualties," Milley said.

"You can imagine what that would look like in urban areas, on streets," he added.

"It would be horrific," Milley said.

Ukraine crisis: Baerbock repeats support for Kiev - entry ban for EU representatives by Moscow

Update from January 28, 7:55 p.m .:

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock commented again on the situation in Ukraine at the Green Party Congress. "Unfortunately, the reality is that we have to face serious questions of security policy," she emphasized at the virtual event. Security policy is different today than it was a few decades ago. From some things you can learn lessons, while other things would shape reality differently. "For example, that a gas pipeline is highly strategic and can and will have security implications," she emphasized, pointing to the controversial Nord Stream 2 project.



"This is one of the most difficult issues," she said of the Ukraine conflict.

Here, in the background of almost 100,000 Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian border, one cannot say "we're not talking about military policy now".

However, in addition to military threats, hybrid attacks are also involved, “hollowing out from the inside”.

She reaffirmed the German position in the crisis.

"So important to us as the federal government and to us as the Green part of this coalition that we are now making it very clear that we are on the side of Ukraine," said Baerbock.

This is the case with security, with defence, but above all with economic stability.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia © Alexei Nikolsky/dpa

Update from January 28, 5:53 p.m .:

Russia has imposed entry bans on several representatives from the European Union.

According to the AFP news agency, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow said on Friday that it was a reaction to an “absurd” policy of “unilateral restrictions” from Brussels.

The entry bans primarily affect representatives of some EU countries "who are personally responsible for the propagation of anti-Russian policies".

Ukraine Crisis: “Need for De-escalation”

Update from January 28, 5:35 p.m .:

In a phone call lasting more than an hour, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron explained the “need for de-escalation”, according to the Elysée. "Putin has not expressed any offensive intentions," stressed the French Presidency. He said clearly that he was not looking for confrontation.

There is agreement to continue the dialogue in the Normandy format and to work towards the implementation of the Minsk agreement, it said.

The talks between Macron and Putin had been agreed with international partners.

Putin told Macron that he could only have such an in-depth dialogue with him, the Elysée explained.

It was a "demanding and respectful conversation".

The different points of view were also addressed.

Ukraine: Putin denies "offensive intention" in conversation with Macron - Green politician Kellner shoots at former Chancellor Schröder

Update from January 28, 4:55 p.m .:

The political federal director of the Greens, Michael Kellner, has attacked ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) after criticism of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock’s Russia course.

"The remarks that I heard from Gerhard Schröder are unworthy of a former Chancellor," said Kellner on Friday in Berlin.

"These statements undermine the federal government's efforts to find a peaceful solution and they reverse cause and effect."

Former Chancellor Schröder condemns Baerbock's "provocation" of Russia.

© Kay Nietfeld/photothek/dpa/IMAGO

Ukraine: EU and USA are preparing for possible supply bottlenecks in natural gas

Update from January 28, 4:50 p.m .:

Against the background of the escalating conflict with Russia, the USA and the EU want to ensure additional sources of natural gas for Europe.

Washington and Brussels are working together on "further, sufficient and timely supplies of natural gas to the EU from various sources around the world," said a statement released on Friday by US President Joe Biden and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The aim is to "prevent supply shocks that could be triggered by a new Russian invasion of Ukraine," the joint statement said.

The United States is already the "biggest supplier of liquid natural gas" for the EU.

Together with the governments and market participants in the EU, work is being done to deliver "additional quantities of natural gas" from around the world to Europe.

Update from January 28, 4:45 p.m .:

For the first time since the current Ukraine crisis began, the UN Security Council should deal with the issue.

In view of the "clear threat to international peace and security" from Russia, the USA called for a public meeting in the most important UN body, as the US diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield announced on Thursday. 

An invasion of Ukraine would have "serious consequences" for Russia.

The NATO allies are ready to impose tough economic and political sanctions in the event of a military escalation.

Putin-Macron phone call on the Ukraine crisis: demand for security guarantees for Moscow

Update from January 28, 4 p.m.:

In talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow's demands for binding guarantees for security in Europe.

This was announced by the Kremlin on Friday after a phone call between the two heads of state.

Putin also said that Russia is now analyzing the written responses from the US and NATO to his proposals and then determining further steps.

According to the Kremlin, Putin also pointed out that Russia's main concerns had not been taken into account in the answers.

These include the demand for an end to NATO expansion, the renunciation of offensive weapons near the Russian borders and also the withdrawal of the bloc's military potential and infrastructure to the 1997 positions.

The US and its allies have also ignored the key issue of the "indivisibility" of security.

This is enshrined in the principles of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other documents, it said.

According to the Kremlin statement, Putin has again insisted on fulfilling Kiev's obligations in the Minsk peace agreement and on the planned special status for the breakaway eastern Ukrainian regions in the Donbass.

In Paris, there were for the first time direct talks between Moscow and Kiev - with Franco-German mediation - on the Minsk agreement, which has not yet been fulfilled.

Above all, the commitment to the ceasefire in the conflict region was reaffirmed.

Ukraine: EU and US see aggressive disinformation on Russia's deployment

Update from January 28, 3.40 p.m .:

According to the EU and the USA, the Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine is accompanied by the targeted spread of disinformation.

"What we're seeing right now is that the narratives and the entire disinformation ecosystem are much more aggressive," EU analysts said in Brussels on Friday.

One strategy used by pro-Kremlin actors is to spread uncertainty through many different perspectives.

This included narratives such as that Ukraine has no real right to exist, actually belongs to the Russian cultural sphere and is just an agent of the West.

It was also observed that Ukraine was being accused of preparing chemical weapons attacks.

The dissemination of these narratives is clearly coordinated, even if no increase in the amount of disinformation has been observed so far.

The developments in the USA are assessed in a similar way.

"The United States and our allies and partners are concerned by (...) the increasingly harsh rhetoric and propagation of false narratives," US Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan told journalists on Friday.

Ukraine is accused of wanting to provoke a conflict.

Ukraine conflict: Top representatives of the SPD advise on Russia policy

Update from January 28, 2:10 p.m .:

Against the background of the Ukraine conflict, top representatives of the SPD will discuss the different attitudes in the party towards Russia on Monday afternoon. According to party circles on Friday, the meeting will take place at the invitation of SPD leader Lars Klingbeil. It is part of a process that has been going on for some time to bring together different poles in the party on the Russia question.

First, the

mirror

had reported on the meeting.

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht and Development Aid Minister Svenja Schulze are to take part from the government side.

According to information from party circles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be there for Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Prime Ministers have also been invited, including Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, who has campaigned vehemently for the completion of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, whose commissioning in the Ukraine conflict could now be up for discussion.

There are also parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich, specialist politicians and the chairman of the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation, Martin Schulz.

The meeting on Monday afternoon should last two hours, party circles said.

According to

Spiegel

, it should also be the prelude to further meetings to develop the principles of a new European Ostpolitik.

The Ukraine crisis recently revealed the conflict between different party currents in the SPD.

While representatives of the left wing of the party continue to rely on relaxation, more conservative Social Democrats are calling for a tougher approach to Moscow.

Schröder condemns Baerbock's "provocation": "I was surprised"

Update from January 28, 1:45 p.m .:

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder criticized the fact that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) visited Ukraine before her first visit to Moscow.

In the podcast "The Agenda" he called this a "small provocation" by Russia.

“I was surprised that one visits Russia and is in Kiev beforehand.

Well, the Russians accepted that," said Schröder.

"I hope that this model will not be repeated when visiting China - wherever the trip then comes from."

However, Schröder praised Baerbock's clear no to arms deliveries to Ukraine during the trip.

That was "respectable".

Overall, he could see "no major mistake" by the Green politician during the trip, "except for the fact that the small provocation of flying to Russia via Kiev might have been avoided," said the former SPD chairman.

"But well, that's just a question of style."

Meanwhile: Slovakian Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok has confirmed media reports that NATO is considering sending troops to Slovakia, which borders directly on Ukraine.

In a guest article in the liberal daily

Sme

(Friday), the minister wrote that in connection with the tensions with Russia, the North Atlantic Alliance had begun "to consider moving joint troops to individual states of its eastern wing in order to strengthen their defences".

Belarus: ruler Lukashenko believes war in Europe is possible – on one condition

Update from January 28, 1:15 p.m .:

The authoritarian Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko considers a war in Europe to be possible – but only in the event of aggression directed against Belarus or Russia. “Will there be a war or not?” Lukashenko asked the room during a speech to the nation on Friday – and answered himself: “Yes, there will be. But only in two cases. When direct aggression is committed against Belarus. And secondly (...) if our ally Russia is attacked directly.”

He assured Russia of extensive military support in the event of a conflict. In the event of an "attack" on Belarus or Russia, "there will be a war," Lukashenko said in a televised speech in Minsk. "We will rise up to defend our country and our homeland." However, Lukashenko qualified that such a war could produce "no winners". In the event of war, "everyone would lose everything," he warned.

Lukashenko, who in 2020 had mass protests directed against him brutally crushed, is considered a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow and Minsk are planning a joint military exercise in Belarus in February, which has sparked some concern in the West given the current Ukraine crisis.

For example, Russia has moved its S-400 air defense system to the neighboring country.

The maneuver is to be held in southern Belarus, which borders Ukraine.

The US State Department has expressed concern that Moscow could station troops in Belarus and attack Ukraine from there under the guise of the maneuvers.

'We don't want wars, but...': Russia blatantly threatens Ukraine with 'measures in response'

First report from January 28, 1 p.m.:

Moscow – The Kremlin has issued an indirect war threat in the Ukraine crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on the OSCE to provide Moscow with answers to questions about security in Europe.

A corresponding letter will be sent to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on Friday, he said in a radio interview.

A phone call with Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who recently traveled to Moscow to meet Lavrov, is also planned for Friday, he said.

Only the day before, Baerbock had defended the course of the traffic light in dealing with the Ukraine conflict.

Russia wants OSCE foreign ministers to explain the principle of “indivisible” security in Europe.

We don't want wars.

But we also don't allow our interests to be trampled on, our interests ignored.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

From Moscow's point of view, this means that a country - such as Ukraine - must not strengthen its own security at the expense of the interests of another state - that is, Russia.

Among other things, Russia justifies its resistance to the admission of Ukraine* to NATO because it sees itself threatened by the advance of the military bloc.

Russia sees itself connected to parts of Ukraine through a centuries-long history and criticizes the fact that the USA and NATO have declared the country their sphere of influence - without considering Moscow's interests.

Ukraine crisis: Lavrov wants "no wars, but..." - telephone call with Baerbock planned for Friday

"If our attempts to agree on mutually acceptable principles of ensuring security in Europe do not bring results, then we will take measures in response," Lavrov said.

Russia* had presented NATO and the United States with a list of demands in which, among other things, an end to the eastward expansion of the military alliance is required.

NATO and the USA rejected this.

Russia is now analyzing the West's written responses and is currently continuing to focus on dialogue.

Next, Moscow expects a response from the OSCE, Lavrov said.

Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, observes a military exercise at the Black Sea in 2020.

(Montage) © dpa/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP |

Alexei Druzhinin

"If it depends on Russia, then there will be no war.

We don't want wars.

But we also do not allow our interests to be trampled on, our interests ignored,” Lavrov said.

With regard to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, he once again emphasized that the crisis could be resolved by implementing the peace plan negotiated in Minsk (Belarus) with Franco-German mediation.

(aka mit dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-01-29

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