The situation in the morning - Putin's move with the ruble, three summits in Brussels, bad prospects for Tobias Hans

Putin's New Doctrine

It has been one of the arguments

against a complete

- the

.

The 200 million euros that Germany transfers to Vladimir Putin's state-owned companies every day, it was argued, could not be used directly to finance his war.

The apparatus and the soldiers are always paid for in rubles and not in foreign currency.

Now, however, the Russian President has decided to

in energy deals with "unfriendly countries," which include the entire EU .

The announcement alone had an effect: the value of the weakening ruble rose, as did the

– by 30 percent in the meantime.

The long-term effects could be even more serious.

For lack of alternatives, the importing countries could be forced to exchange euros or dollars at the

in order to receive the rubles they need for payments.

So far, however, the central bank has been largely shut down by the sanctions, so the West would have to

.

An initial reaction from Berlin came immediately: Economics Minister

current contracts.

An accusation that will certainly hit the war criminal in Moscow hard.

I, on the other hand, cannot imagine that Putin would transfer his daily pocket money back from Germany if it continued to arrive in euros.

• New rule on the gas market: Putin's dangerous ruble maneuver

Necessary provocation

The many unfriendly countries affected by

have ample opportunity today to consult.

.

Heads of state and government meet for an

, a

and a

.

US President

also came.

In fact, Putin's announcement could further

of Russian oil and gas

.

Germany and other EU countries have so far resisted it.

In his budget speech yesterday, Olaf Scholz again warned that a boycott could

.

And if you believe Berlin government circles, Biden is said to have shown understanding for the German situation so far.

At the same time, however, the US President recently called for the sanctions against Russia to be further tightened.

The boycott would certainly be one of the sharpest swords.

There is agreement in the West that

.

The number of combat units in Eastern European countries is to be doubled to eight.

for the member countries

and

are to be decided at the NATO special summit

.

So far, NATO has only permanently stationed multinational units in the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as well as in Poland.

to this step

will be interesting .

In his catalog of demands to NATO, he had insisted on Western disarmament and the withdrawal of all US troops from Eastern Europe.

He will see the announcement by NATO – sensible and necessary from a Western perspective – as

.

• Olaf Scholz on the current war situation: the chancellor's promise

Does the Scholz train continue?

To this day I wonder what

in early March and lament the

in a shaky selfie video

.

In doing so, he identified the

, since the state was getting rich from the high prices.

The fact that the CDU politician contrasted “low earners” and the “many hard-working people who have to fill up” was certainly due to the hectic nature of his admission.

If the intention was to collect a few more votes with a

shot before the state elections, this calculation apparently did not work out: For weeks,

has been in the polls between

.

You can find out whether this trend will continue early this afternoon when we publish our last Civey survey on the Saarland elections.

The federal CDU is already preparing for a possible defeat.

It is, so it is said, mainly about regional issues.

In fact, the election could have a signal effect.

The state elections in Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony will follow this year.

If Rehlinger wins, she would continue the fairytale

, a party that many pronounced dead just a year ago.

• Hans vs. Rehlinger: Why Saarland could turn red again in the state elections

traffic light gossip

With his suggestion that the state should

in view of the high energy prices , Finance Minister

heralded what could be called a small

.

If the three partners were so proud of their trusting, fair and confidential cooperation,

the Greens and SPD internally accuse the FDP leader of not having clearly discussed his initiative with them, and that the Chancellor is also aware of the date of the announcement surprised.

Damage limitation has been at stake for days now, and they want to agree on a

for the citizens.

A first meeting with nine emissaries of the party was unsuccessful.

The coalition committee met late yesterday evening and discussed ideas ranging from a discount to a flat-

right through to the Green Party's proposal for

.

In addition, however, other topics were also discussed, such as better energy efficiency and a possible extension of the service life of coal-fired power plants, which could partially compensate for the loss of Russian gas.

It will certainly not have been the last crisis meeting on this topic.

• Dominant FDP, breach of principles: how can the Greens stand it?

sadness of the day...

.... applies to the death of

Under Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001, she was not only the

and thus a pioneer of feminist foreign policy, she was a wise commentator on geopolitical events to the very end.

Enlarge image

Madeleine Albright at the Munich Security Conference 2022

Photo: Andreas Gebert / REUTERS

The day before Putin's attack on Ukraine, the New York Times published a guest article by the former minister.

"An invasion of Ukraine would not pave Russia's path to greatness, but seal Mr. Putin's dishonor by leaving his country diplomatically isolated, economically crippled, and strategically vulnerable to a stronger, unified Western alliance," Albright wrote.

Ukraine has a right to its sovereignty, regardless of who its neighbors are.

"In the modern age, big countries accept that," she concluded, "and so must Mr. Putin." Albright died of cancer at the age of 84.

Read an obituary here.

The latest news from the night

• Russia throws US diplomats out of the country:

  Several US envoys must leave Russia immediately – they are on a Kremlin list of “undesirables”.

  Washington called the expulsion 'unhelpful'

• Jamaica's Prime Minister indicates farewell to the British monarchy:

  Prince William and Duchess Kate were welcomed with demonstrations on their trip to the Caribbean.

  At a meeting in front of cameras, Jamaica's prime minister has now addressed a possible breach with the crown

• RKI reports 318,387 new infections - incidence increases again:

  The trend towards increasing corona figures continues.

  The Robert Koch Institute currently registered 300 more virus deaths within 24 hours

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I wish you a good start into the day.

Yours, Martin Knobbe