Enlarge image
Russian soldier in front of a church in Volnowakha in Donetsk Oblast
Photo: SERGEI ILNITSKY / EPA
It was a diplomatic move of a special kind: in order to convince Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin to abandon his war of aggression in Ukraine, Western heads of state and government have so far only picked up the phone.
On Monday, however, Austria's Chancellor Karl Nehammer traveled personally to Moscow to talk to Russia's President about the war in Ukraine.
According to intelligence information, its groups are meanwhile preparing for an intensified attack in the east of the country.
The developments of the day at a glance:
military situation
According to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia will not interrupt its "military operation" in Ukraine before the next round of talks with Ukraine.
But he sees no reason why the peace talks should not be continued.
According to an insider, the United States assumes that Russia has begun to
strengthen and reequip its troops in the Donbass region
in eastern Ukraine.
This is reported by the Reuters news agency.
According to a high-ranking US military representative, who does not want to be named, it is apparently not the beginning of a new offensive.
Only the Russian leadership announced gains in the course of the war.
According to its own information, Russia has destroyed four launchers of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system in central-eastern Ukraine.
The weapons hidden in a hangar on the outskirts of the city of Dnipro were hit by Kalibr missiles fired from the sea on Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The missile system was made available to Ukraine by another country.
The ministry does not explain which nation it was.
Slovakia recently surrendered its S-300 system to Ukraine.
From the USA it was said that there was no evidence of the destruction.
According to Russian information, the port
of the south-east Ukrainian city of Mariupol, which has been contested for weeks, has been conquered
.
Armed forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic have taken control, the Russian agencies Ria and Interfax wrote, citing Donetsk separatist leader Denis Puschilin.
The information cannot be independently verified.
Mariupol Deputy Mayor Serhiy Orlov denied reports to the BBC that Ukrainian troops in the city were running out of ammunition.
Meanwhile, Ukraine accused Russia of seizing a ship at the port of Mariupol.
18 sailors and the captain's wife were arrested, Lyudmyla Denisova, Human Rights Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament, wrote to Telegram on Monday.
Russian troops had previously fired on the ship flying the Liberian flag.
In addition to Ukrainian citizens, an Egyptian was also among the prisoners.
The Ukrainian leadership
fears a Russian attack from the west as well
.
The Russian troops stationed in the Republic of Moldova could be used for this purpose, it was said in Kyiv.
"It cannot be ruled out that the Russian armed forces will carry out provocations in the Transnistrian region of Moldova," the Ukrainian General Staff said on Monday.
Transnistria, located on the border with Ukraine, is part of the Republic of Moldova under international law, but has been controlled by Russia since 1990.
Should Russian troops from Transnistria and pro-Moscow paramilitary groups from the region intervene in the Ukraine war, there is a potential threat of encirclement of Ukrainian forces in the south of the country, especially around the Odessa region.
Russia has so far denied any such intentions.
Austria's Chancellor Nehammer in Moscow
In the afternoon, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the first Western head of government to hold personal talks with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
In a subsequent press conference, which Nehammer held alone, he drew a mixed balance.
The Chancellor said he had "generally no optimistic impression" of the conversation.
The Russian army is preparing an offensive in eastern Ukraine.
"This battle will be fought with vehemence." Therefore, civilians from the contested areas would have to be brought to safety via humanitarian corridors.
Nehammer again defended the trip to Moscow against criticism.
"It takes personal confrontation," he emphasized.
The meeting with Putin had been agreed with the heads of the EU and with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had previously welcomed the meeting.
EU foreign ministers postpone decision on oil embargo
However, no decision was made at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
Only a general discussion was held, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
However, with a view to further sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, he emphasized: "Nothing is off the table, including sanctions on oil and gas."
Borrell advocated making a distinction between the two fuels and starting with oil.
The bill for oil imports was four times as high as that for gas last year, he said.
In view of the feared Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine, the EU wants to supply the government in Kyiv with more weapons for the time being.
The ministers approved an increase in joint military aid by 500 million euros to 1.5 billion euros.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) said Ukraine needed heavy weapons;
there is »no time for excuses« anymore.
You should read this
Ukrainian landscape architect Antonina Piskunova designed the gardens in Kiev's suburbs, which have now been bombed.
She couldn't save the green areas from Putin - but her mother could.
Read here how the 33-year-old brought her mother to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
A major Russian offensive on the Donbass is imminent.
Tens of thousands of people are fleeing, but some do not want to leave their homes at all.
Mayor Alexander Striuk has an explanation for this.
Read the interview that SPIEGEL reporter Christoph Reuter conducted with Striuk here.
Germans suffer from enormous price increases for everyday goods.
Inflation hits them when filling up as well as in the refrigerated section - and some products are already in short supply.
Here is a selection.
muk/dpa/AFP/Reuters