Ukraine war: Russian diplomats threatened in the US?
Ambassador accuses
Created: 05/15/2022Updated: 05/15/2022 06:20
By: Kim Hornickel, Teresa Toth, Katja Thorwarth, Daniel Dillmann, Sonja Thomaser, Nail Akkoyun, Marvin Ziegele, Andreas Apetz, Jan-Frederik Wendt
Russia complains about threats.
Meanwhile, representatives of the NATO countries are meeting and discussing a new strategic defense concept.
The news ticker.
G7 unequivocally:
The seven leading economic nations want to “never” recognize the borders in Ukraine that Russia has moved.
Russia warns Finland that
Russia's neighboring country should not join NATO.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister:
Kuleba accuses the West of hesitant action in the Ukraine conflict.
You can read all developments in diplomatic efforts in the Ukraine war and help for Ukraine in our news ticker.
Update from Sunday, May 15, 6:15 a.m .:
According to the Russian ambassador in the USA, Russian diplomats there are threatened with violence.
“Our embassy is in a hostile environment.
Embassy staff are receiving threats, including threats of physical violence,” Ambassador Anatoly Antonov was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency TASS.
+++ 10:20 p.m .:
At the end of the two-day meeting in Berlin, the foreign ministers of the 30 NATO countries want to discuss a new strategic concept for the defense alliance this Sunday (May 15).
The current version was adopted in 2010 and still assumes that there will no longer be major tensions with Russia.
The informal talks are also said to be about continued support for Ukraine in the fight against the Russian attackers.
The alliance partners also want to press ahead with the planned strengthening of NATO's eastern flank.
At the end of June, the new resolutions are to be passed at a NATO summit in the Spanish capital, Madrid.
Round table at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
© Olivier Matthys/AP/dpa
Ukraine war: Russia 'doesn't give a damn about not recognizing the new borders'
+++ 9:00 p.m .:
The former Russian head of state Dmitry Medvedev reacted with sarcasm and criticism to the support of Ukraine by the leading industrialized nations (G7).
"To put it mildly, our country doesn't care if the G7 does not recognize the new borders," he commented on his Telegram channel on Saturday.
The declaration by the G7 states that they would “never” want to recognize border changes that Russia wants to force through military force left Medvedev cold.
Instead, the people in the occupied territories should decide.
For several weeks there has been speculation about referendums in the parts of Ukraine occupied by troops loyal to Moscow.
A connection to Russia should be forced.
And the 56-year-old continued to shoot at western states: he described the G7's promise to Kyiv to continue supplying arms to Ukraine as a continuation of a "covert war against Russia".
Overall, Medvedev criticized the statements made at the G7 meeting as "false".
+++ 19.40:
Turkey no longer wants to stand in the way of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, as reported by Zeit Online.
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan explained through a spokesman, Turkey is not closing the door on the Scandinavians joining NATO, although it continues to be critical of this step.
Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavesto announced on his arrival at the special meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin that he would meet his Turkish colleague Mevlut Cavusoglu later that evening to clear up any inconsistencies.
In view of the war of aggression in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden are demanding “immediate” accession to NATO.
Ukraine war: Zelenskyj sees Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism"
+++ 5.45 p.m .:
President Volodymyr Zelenskyj reaffirmed his call for new sanctions to be imposed against the Russian aggressor at a meeting with US politicians in Kiev.
As the news portal The Kyiv Independent reports, Zelenskyy campaigned for recognition of Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism".
The Ukrainian President sees the United States as having an obligation.
+++ 16:17:
Mitch McConnell, Republican faction leader in the US Senate, traveled to Kiev with several colleagues to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
A video appeared on Zelenskyy's Telegram account on Saturday (May 14) in which McConnell and his party colleagues Susan Collins, John Barrasso and John Cornyn can be seen together with the Ukrainian President.
Ukraine war: Russia criticizes the West – “total hybrid war”
+++ 16:07:
Russia again criticizes the West for its role in the Ukraine war.
"The collective West has declared total hybrid war on us and it is difficult to predict how long this will all last, but it is clear that the consequences will be felt by everyone without exception," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to the Interfax news agency Foreign and Security Policy Council meeting in Moscow.
Russia has tried to avoid a direct confrontation, but now accepts the challenge - after all, the country is used to sanctions, according to Lavrov.
The foreign minister also criticized a "stone-age outbreak of anti-Russianism" in the West since the beginning of the Ukraine war.
Talks on the Ukraine war: Putin warns Finland of planned NATO membership
+++ 3.10 p.m .:
In a telephone call with Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö, Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin described Helsinki’s planned NATO membership as a mistake.
Russia does not pose a threat to the neighboring country, Putin emphasized at the talks on Saturday, according to the Kremlin.
Finland's move away from traditional neutrality will worsen what has been good neighborly relations, he warned.
The talks came about on the initiative of the Finnish President to explain the decision to join NATO in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to Helsinki sources.
“The conversation was open and direct, but was conducted without exacerbation.
It was considered important to avoid tensions," Niinistö said, according to the Finnish Presidential Office website.
The Finnish government declared on Thursday that it wanted to pave the way for NATO membership.
President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin made it clear that the formal resolutions still required for a corresponding application should be made shortly.
The reason given was the Russian Ukraine war.
The war has also led to a change of opinion in the population of the country, which has been non-aligned for decades, so that a majority of Finns is now in favor of membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Finland and Russia share a 1300 km border.
Vladimir Putin has spoken to Finnish President Sauli Niinistö on the phone.
(Archive photo) © Mikhail Metzel/dpa/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP
Food safety at risk because of Ukraine war: India bans wheat exports
+++ 1.30 p.m .:
The world’s second largest wheat producer, India, has banned the export of the grain with immediate effect.
The decision was made in light of the sudden surge in global wheat prices, threatening India's food security, the country's export authority said late Friday night.
The second largest wheat producer India has banned the export of wheat with immediate effect.
© Channi Anand/dpa
Only recently, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other representatives of the Indian government announced that they would help in the wake of the Ukraine war in view of an imminent shortage of wheat on the world market and export significantly more wheat.
Ukraine and Russia are both major wheat exporters.
Most recently, there were delivery bottlenecks and price increases due to the war.
Indian wheat exporters have had export deals with countries like Egypt and Turkey since the war began, said Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority chief Tarun Bajaj.
But then the current extreme heat in India intervened.
This reduces the wheat harvest by almost six percent, according to the Department of Food & Public Distribution.
Several economists also warned of a possible domestic wheat crisis.
India produces the second most wheat after China - around 100 million tons per year.
So far, India has hardly exported any of it.
The second most populous country with more than 1.3 billion people needs a lot of wheat itself.
The government buys in large quantities in order to supply the poor population in the country, among other things.
Until now, farmers have had little incentive to sell to exporters because the government paid them a subsidized price that was higher than the world market price at the time.
G7 want to “never” recognize borders in Ukraine that Russia has moved
+++ 12.20 p.m .:
The G7 group of leading industrialized nations has stated that they will “never” accept the new borders that Russia is aiming for through the war of aggression in Ukraine.
"We will never recognize borders that Russia has tried to shift through military aggression," emphasized the G7 foreign ministers in a statement published on Saturday at the end of their deliberations in Wangels, Schleswig-Holstein.
The G7 will maintain its "support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine - including Crimea - and all states".
Summit meeting of the foreign ministers of the G7 group of the leading democratic economic powers.
© Marcus Brandt/dpa
Russia wants to "analyze" Finland's possible NATO membership
+++ 12.00 p.m .:
In the event of Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Russia wants to make its reaction dependent on the concrete military infrastructure of the alliance.
According to the Interfax agency, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said it was still too early to talk about a possible stationing of nuclear weapons.
The possible admission of the two states to NATO means "strategic changes" in the region.
But Russia will not react emotionally, but according to "a thorough analysis" of the new balance of power.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (center) with his deputies Alexander Grushko (left) and Andrei Rudenko (right) in Azerbaijan.
(Archive photo) © Russian Foreign Ministry/Imago Images
Former President Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Head of the National Security Council in Moscow, had previously threatened to station nuclear weapons in Russia's Baltic region.
The Kremlin had warned of the consequences for the security situation in the region should there be a NATO expansion.
Much depends on the bloc itself and what military infrastructure will be in place in Finland and Sweden, Grushko said.
If the military alliance deploys nuclear weapons on Russia's borders, Moscow will respond accordingly.
So far, NATO has committed itself not to change its nuclear policy, said Grushko.
At the same time, he said that Finland and Sweden themselves had no reason to accuse Russia of hostile intentions.
Russia sees no reason for Finland and Sweden to join NATO
+++ 10.30 a.m .:
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko has spoken out against Finland and Sweden joining NATO.
There is no reason for that, he told the RIA news agency.
The Kremlin has no hostile intentions, he stressed.
If it comes to joining NATO, however, Russia will take precautionary measures.
The approaching threat to NATO nuclear forces is a threat to Russian territory.
Russia had repeatedly warned of "serious consequences".
+++ 8.30 a.m .:
The European Commission wants to introduce a legislative proposal for the faster confiscation of criminal assets.
This applies in particular to the assets of Russian and Belarusian oligarchs, which have become the focus of investigative authorities.
Margaritis Schinas, Vice President of the EU Commission, told the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
With this draft law, sanctions against Putin-affiliated oligarchs should take effect more quickly.
Ukraine News: Erdogan could prevent Finland and Sweden from joining NATO
+++ 8:00 a.m.:
Finland’s government has already spoken out in favor of joining NATO.
The Swedish government could do the same on Sunday.
A corresponding application for admission is expected on Monday.
In a security analysis by the Swedish parliament, the advantages of NATO membership are highlighted accordingly.
However, the possible NATO accession of Finland and Sweden could fail because of the unanimity principle.
All 30 member states would have to vote for admission to the military alliance.
Objections have so far come from Turkish President Erdogan.
He did not have a positive opinion on the planned applications, he emphasized on Friday.
Scandinavian countries are like a guest house for terrorist organizations, Erdogan also claimed.
The background to his accusation is the allegation that Sweden, for example, is hosting Kurdish groups and supporters of the Gülen movement.
Erdogan often referred to these groups as terrorists.
Ukraine-News: EU Commission proposes price cap for gas
+++ 7.15 a.m .:
The EU Commission has proposed an upper limit for gas prices.
This emerges from a paper by the institution that is available to the newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
It speaks of "short-term energy market interventions".
The price cap is intended to protect consumers from a cost explosion.
However, the measure would require the investment of large sums.
It is not yet known what the financing will look like.
Update from Saturday, May 14, 6 a.m.:
Russia announced on Friday that it no longer wanted to supply electricity to Finland from Saturday (May 14).
This was to be seen as "reprisal" for the country's planned NATO membership, it said.
Vladimir Putin, Russia's President in the Kremlin.
(Archive photo) © Mikhail Metzel/Kremlin Pool/Imago Images
Ukraine-News: Russia reacts to Finland's planned NATO membership
+++ 6:00 p.m .:
Russia reacts to Finland’s announced entry into NATO.
As the Finnish energy company RAO Nordic announced, Russia will no longer supply electricity to Finland from Saturday (May 14, 2022).
From Moscow, payment difficulties are given as the reason for the discontinued electricity supplies.
"We are no longer able to pay for the imported electricity and must therefore stop importing electricity from Russia from May 14," said a spokesman for RAO Nordic.
In Finland, around ten percent of the energy requirement is covered by Russian electricity.
However, the delivery stop will not result in a lack of electricity, said a spokesman for "Finnish Energy".
However, electricity prices would increase.
The power cuts could be part of the announced Russian “retaliatory measures”.
On Thursday (May 12, 2022), the Kremlin had already described Finland's planned NATO membership as a "threat".
Update from Thursday, May 12, 7:13 a.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj believes that the war with Russia can only be ended after all occupied Ukrainian territories have been returned.
"If we take back everything that belongs to us, then we will end the war," said the head of state on Wednesday in an interview with French students, according to the German Press Agency.
"We want peace in our state," emphasized the 44-year-old.
Russia attacked Ukraine at the end of February and occupied large areas in the east and south of the country.
In 2014, Russia had already incorporated the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.
+++ 4.15 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the trips by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) to Ukraine.
At a press conference with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in Berlin on Tuesday, he again emphasized that he was happy about the previous talks between Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
"Well, I think that's a good basis for the still important collaborative relationships that we have."
Ukraine News: Zelenskyy warns against cooperation with Russia
+++ 3:25 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has warned Slovakia and other EU countries against further cooperation with Russia.
As a result, they are threatened with a similar fate as Ukraine is currently suffering, he said in a video message to the plenary session of the Slovakian parliament in Bratislava on Tuesday.
He understands that Slovakia finds it difficult to do without Russian gas imports.
However, Ukrainian politicians used to argue in a similar way and allowed the Black Sea Fleet to be stationed in large quantities in exchange for cheap gas.
Ukraine war: Baerbock travels to Kyiv instead of Scholz – Selenskyj jacket auctioned for $110,000
+++ 1 p.m.:
President
Volodymyr Zelensyi invited Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kyiv on May 9th.
Scholz could take a "very strong political step" and come to the Ukrainian capital on May 9, the president said at an event hosted by the London think tank Chatham House.
For weeks there was disagreement between Kyiv and Berlin because a visit from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was not desired.
Scholz had previously described the unloading as an obstacle to his own trip.
On Thursday (May 5), Steinmeier and Selenskyj cleared up the irritations in a phone call.
Scholz then announced that Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock would travel to Kyiv.
+++ 9.50 a.m .:
A fundraising gala to support Ukraine took place in London.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson also took part in the “Brave Ukraine” campaign.
During the gala, a fleece jacket belonging to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was auctioned for $110,000.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy sets conditions for peace talks with Russia
First report from Saturday, May 7th:
Kiev - The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has again commented on possible peace negotiations with Russia in the Ukraine war.
Should these resume, Russian President Vladimir Putin would first have to meet a number of conditions, Zelensky said.
According to Zelenskyy, the Russian troops would have to withdraw completely to the positions they held more than two months ago before the start of hostilities in the Ukraine war.
That is the “minimum”, emphasized Zelenskyj.
(dil/marv/nak/kh/to with dpa/AFP)
