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Boris Johnson: Wants to end the "creeping normalization" of Russian activities in Ukraine
Photo: Tayfun Salci / imago images/ZUMA Wire
This article is continuously updated.
Survey: Majority supports Schröder's SPD exclusion
12:30 a.m .:
The former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) is increasingly marginalized in the eyes of the German population because of his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In a representative survey by the opinion research institute Insa for the "Bild am Sonntag", 74 percent of all Germans and even 82 percent of the SPD voters took the view that Schröder should be expelled from the SPD.
75 percent (SPD voters: 79 percent) even think that Schröder's pension should be canceled if he doesn't give up his top jobs in Russian state-owned companies.
Insa interviewed 1005 people on March 4th.
The former chancellor has recently come under heavy criticism for maintaining business ties with Russia despite the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Specifically, it is about Schröder's posts at the Russian energy companies Nord Stream 1 and 2 and the oil company Rosneft, where he is the head of the supervisory board.
In addition, Schröder is to take on a supervisory board position for Gazprom.
After the SPD leadership, Chancellor Olaf Scholz also asked his predecessor on Thursday to vacate his posts at Russian state-owned companies.
The Heidelberg Social Democrats applied for Schröder's expulsion from the party.
In another section of the poll, 48 percent of respondents believed sanctions against Russia do not go far enough.
27 percent think the sanctions are just right, 16 percent think they go too far.
One reason for the increased willingness to impose sanctions could be the fear of an escalation of the war.
77 percent are concerned that nuclear weapons could be used, and 76 percent fear that Russia could attack other countries besides Ukraine.
"Path to de-escalation" - Boris Johnson promotes six-point plan
12:15 a.m .:
Before meetings with the heads of state and government of several countries next week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promoting a six-point plan.
There must be an international humanitarian coalition for Ukraine that supports the country's self-defense and puts maximum economic pressure on the government in Moscow, a statement said.
In addition, a diplomatic path to de-escalation must be created.
Security in the European-Atlantic region must be strengthened and the "creeping normalization" of Russian activities in Ukraine must be brought to an end.
Johnson is scheduled to meet with leaders from Canada, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, among others.
Mastercard and Visa suspend business in Russia
12:10 a.m .:
Mastercard and Visa are suspending their business in Russia.
Credit cards issued by banks there are no longer supported, the US companies said in separate statements.
Cards issued abroad are also said to no longer work in Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the suspension of Mastercard and Visa operations in Russia during a video conference with members of the US Congress on Saturday.
According to parliamentarians, because of the Russian invasion of his country, Zelenskyy appealed to the West to impose an import ban on Russian gas and oil.
Europe-wide protests against war in Ukraine
12:01 a.m .:
In numerous European cities, tens of thousands of people took to the streets on Saturday against Russia’s war in Ukraine.
For example in Hamburg: around 30,000 people came to the opening rally on Jungfernstieg, and up to 22,000 people took part in the subsequent elevator, the police estimated.
The Ukrainian diaspora as well as the youth organizations of several political parties and the climate protection movement Fridays for Future called for the action.
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, around 42,000 people demonstrated across the country on Saturday.
In Zurich, too, the protests were marked by peace: According to the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA, more than 40,000 participants gathered in the city center under the motto "Peace now".
More than a thousand people rallied in support of Ukraine in the Croatian capital of Zagreb, holding signs reading 'Stop the war, save Europe' and 'Glory to Ukraine'.
Many protesters wrapped themselves in blue and yellow flags.
It is the second weekend that organizations and trade unions in numerous cities have called for protests against the war in Ukraine.
Hundreds of thousands of people across Europe took to the streets last weekend, including a few thousand in Russia, over 100,000 in Berlin, 70,000 in Prague and 40,000 in Madrid.
ime/dpa/Reuters/AFP
