Ukraine war: Selenskyj speaks of "historic day" - Macron announces delivery of heavy weapons
Created: 06/17/2022 05:03
By: Bettina Menzel, Bedrettin Bölükbasi, Franziska Schwarz
Germany and France again pledge arms to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Selenskyj speaks of a "historic day" for his country.
The news ticker.
European Court
of Human Rights demands: Russia should prevent the execution of a Moroccan by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Arms deliveries
to
Ukraine
: Great Britain wants to supply Kiev with multiple rocket launchers soon, France announces the delivery of Caesar howitzers, Germany also agrees to deliver arms.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
: "Historical day for Ukraine"
This
news ticker on the negotiations in the Ukraine war and on war diplomacy
is continuously updated.
Update from June 16, 10:46 p.m .:
After the visit of four top European politicians in Kiev, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj spoke of a “historic day” for his country.
"Ukraine has felt the support of four powerful European states," the president said in his evening video address on Thursday.
Never since its independence has Ukraine come so close to the European Union.
Ukraine conflict: European Court of Human Rights urges Russia to stop execution
Update from June 16, 10:37 p.m .:
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has asked Russia to prevent the execution of a Moroccan by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow should ensure that the death penalty imposed on Brahim Saadun "is not carried out," said an urgent decision by the Strasbourg-based court on Thursday.
It thus complied with a petition that a legal representative of the Moroccan had submitted to the ECtHR.
A week ago, the Supreme Court of the self-declared “Donetsk People's Republic” sentenced Saadun and the British Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner to death.
The court accused the three men of having fought for Ukraine as mercenaries.
Ukraine-Russia negotiations: Scholz secures further arms deliveries to Ukraine
Update from June 16, 5:33 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) promised Ukraine further arms deliveries during his visit to Kiev, but made no new concrete commitments.
"We also support Ukraine with the supply of weapons, and we will continue to do so as long as Ukraine needs our support," Scholz said after talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Thursday.
Ukraine-Russia negotiations: France announces delivery of more Caesar howitzers
Update from June 16, 5:10 p.m .:
France wants to deliver more Caesar howitzers to Ukraine.
This was announced by President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday during a visit to Kyiv.
In addition to the twelve heavy guns already delivered, Ukraine is to receive six more Caesar howitzers for the fight against the Russian war of aggression starting next week.
Macron said that France had always responded promptly to requests from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for weapons to defend his country.
The truck-mounted 155mm caliber Caesar guns can accurately hit targets up to 40km away.
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Chancellor Scholz, French President Macron, Italian Prime Minister Draghi and Romanian President Iohannis arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Thursday morning.
© picture alliance/dpa |
Kay Nietfeld
Ukraine war: Draghi wants to end blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia through UN resolution
Update from June 16, 4:31 p.m .:
Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi wants to end the blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia under United Nations coordination.
The Russian military is currently not allowing ships carrying grain to leave Ukraine.
Poorer countries in particular, for example in Africa, are urgently dependent on these deliveries.
"The only way is a United Nations resolution to regulate the corridors in the Black Sea," Draghi said on Thursday at a joint press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, among others, in Kyiv.
Russia has so far rejected this.
"The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine must not lead to a global catastrophe," Draghi added.
Europe must now show strength, the Italian demanded.
Ukraine-Russia talks: Russian intelligence agent tries to work in The Hague Criminal Court
Update from June 16, 3:09 p.m
.: A Russian secret service employee tried to work under camouflage at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague – but was exposed.
This is announced by the Dutch domestic and foreign intelligence service AIVD on its website.
The man was a GRU employee and posed as a Brazilian born in 1989.
In fact, he was born in Russia in 1985. The AIVD classified him as a "danger to national security" and informed the immigration and naturalization authorities.
In April, the GRU employee was therefore refused entry to the Netherlands and sent back to Brazil on the next flight.
The International Criminal Court has been informed.
AIVID stated that such secret service employees are also called 'illegals' because they have had 'comprehensive' training and are 'difficult' to identify due to their cover identity and can therefore operate 'under the radar' for a long time.
"The threat posed by the intelligence officer was potentially very high," writes AIVID.
The GRU is the Russian military intelligence agency.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague (Netherlands) © Peter Dejong/dpa
Ukraine-Russia negotiations: Kremlin spokesman Peskov makes accusations in the grain crisis
Update from June 16, 2:19 p.m
.: Another accusation of “silence” from the Kremlin
(see previous update)
: Ukraine – the world’s fourth largest grain exporter – has been stuck on its own stocks since the Russian invasion.
The West blames Moscow for the looming food crisis because Putin's forces are blockading Ukrainian ports.
Moscow, in turn, accuses Kyiv of having mined its own ports.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov now emphasized the willingness to cooperate "to solve this crisis".
Other states are also trying to do this - such as mediating Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
"But we do not yet know whether Ukraine wants this, whether it is ready, because it is silent about it," Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency.
War Diplomacy: Putin Negotiators Blame Zelenskyy Side – “Didn't Respond”
Update from June 16, 12:32 p.m
.: A Russian negotiator raises allegations against Kiev.
Vladimir Medinsky stated that the Ukrainian side had received the jointly agreed positions after the round of talks in Istanbul on April 15 - but Moscow had not replied.
This is reported by the Russian news portal
gazeta.ru
, citing the Russian news agency Tass.
Medinsky spoke at the International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg, which runs until June 18.
Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin wants to speak there with representatives of the automotive industry in view of the western sanctions.
Picture from June 15: Zelenskyy in his Kiev office © Sarsenov Daniiar/Ukraine Preside/Imago
Ukraine-Russia negotiations: Zelenskyj wants to speak at the G7 summit
Update from June 16, 6:27 a.m .:
Volodymyr Zelenskyj will represent his country’s interests at the G7 and NATO summits at the end of June.
He gratefully accepted the invitations to the top meetings, said Zelenskyj on Twitter on Wednesday evening.
However, it is unclear whether the Ukrainian head of state will leave his country or join in via video.
Overall, Zelenskyy saw great progress in international support for his country.
He listed all of Wednesday's international contacts: phone calls with US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a meeting with Albanian and Montenegrin leaders Edi Rama and Dritan Abazovic.
The meeting of the US-led Ukraine contact group on Wednesday in Brussels sent the signal that arms deliveries would be stabilized, Zelensky said.
"In all international contacts I hear admiration for the actions of our defenders," said the President.
He himself fights every day to ensure that Ukraine receives the necessary weapons from abroad.
“But we don't have to import bravery, wisdom and tactical skill.
Our heroes have that themselves.”
Ukraine-News: USA expect further arms deliveries from the west
Update from June 15, 4:25 p.m .:
The USA expects further western arms deliveries to Ukraine.
The country is "before a decisive moment on the battlefield," said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the start of a meeting of 45 countries of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
He was alluding to the bitter fighting against Russian units in the east of the country.
"We will deepen our support for the Ukrainian armed forces," Austin said.
The Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov also attended the meeting.
His ministry had previously complained that Kyiv had only received “around ten percent” of the weapons demanded by the West.
For the fighting in the Donbass, Ukraine wants heavy weapons such as tanks and howitzers, among other things.
Ukraine-News: London wants to supply Kyiv with multiple rocket launchers - "imminent"
Update from June 15, 4:10 p.m .:
Britain says it will soon supply Ukraine with multiple rocket launchers to help the country defend itself against Russia.
"I think delivery is imminent," British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said in Oslo on the sidelines of a meeting of the multinational Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
Great Britain had already announced the delivery of the multiple rocket launcher system MLRS on June 6th.
According to Wallace, in addition to the MLRS missile launchers, the country is also considering the delivery of Harpoon anti-ship missiles, which Denmark and the Netherlands have also promised Ukraine.
Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said after meeting Wallace that his country was also considering further arms sales to Ukraine.
The two defense ministers made the statement a few hours before a meeting of the Ukraine contact group, which consists of almost 50 countries, at which US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is to discuss further military aid for Kyiv.
Austin called on the US allies not to let up on arms deliveries.
The contact group was launched in April at the US military base in Ramstein, Germany.
Ukraine-News: Zelenskyj calls for further help against Putin's war of aggression
Update from June 15, 3:40 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has requested further help from the EU in the fight against Russia.
In a video address to the Czech parliament, Zelenskyy recalled the invasion of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968. Today Ukraine is fighting "for freedom" and "against the cruel invasion of Russia," said Zelenskyy.
Ukraine therefore needs every possible support to defeat Russia.
The invasion of Warsaw Pact troops in August 1968 put an end to the Prague Spring.
Zelenskyy said today Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine is just the first step in Moscow's plan to recapture former Soviet satellite states.
"A tyrant who ... wants everything will never stop," says Zelenskyj.
Zelenskyy thanked the Czechs for taking in more than 300,000 Ukrainian refugees and delivering weapons worth more than 3.5 billion Czech crowns (almost 142 million euros).
He also called on the government in Prague to push through another package of sanctions against Russia after taking over the EU Council Presidency in July.
"Take action so that all European leaders agree that defending and strengthening Europe is our common goal," stressed the Ukrainian leader.
Ukraine-News: Macron calls for negotiations - "must have a clear head"
Update from June 15, 3:15 p.m .:
French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
France made it clear from day one "that Russia is the aggressor," Macron said during his visit to Romania, according to US-funded broadcaster
Radio Free Europe
.
"We have to be clear-headed: we are not at war with Russia," Macron added.
According to him, Ukraine must sit at the negotiating table with Russia: "The Ukrainian President and his officials will have to negotiate with Russia."
Ukraine-News: Kremlin wants dialogue with the West - Putin spokesman calls for "mutual respect"
Update from June 15, 2:05 p.m .:
Regardless of the deeply strained relationship, the Kremlin does not want to completely give up dialogue with Western countries.
"Communication is necessary, we will also have to communicate in the future," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax agency.
"America isn't going anywhere, Europe isn't going anywhere, so we have to communicate with them somehow," Peskow said.
However, communication must be based on mutual respect and the protection of security interests, Peskow added.
However, this is currently not foreseeable.
Ukraine-News: Zelenskyj campaigns for EU status - "Putin will not stop in Ukraine"
Update from June 15, 1:10 p.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has urged his country to be granted the status of a candidate for EU membership.
The 44-year-old spoke via video to both chambers of parliament in the Czech Republic, which will take over the EU Council Presidency in the second half of the year.
Candidate status would prove that Europe is a real community and that European values mean more than empty phrases, Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy warned that if Russia were to win, President Vladimir Putin would not stop at Ukraine.
His imperial ambitions ranged "from Warsaw to Sofia, from Prague to Tallinn".
Finally, he quoted the motto of the former Czechoslovak and Czech President Vaclav Havel (1936-2011): "Truth and love must triumph over lies and hate." For this he received minutes of standing applause from the Czech parliamentarians.
Ukraine-News: Podoliak points to Russian superiority - "in a ratio of ten to one"
Update from June 15, 12:35 p.m .: Given
the increasingly difficult situation of its troops in the Donbass, Ukraine has pushed for accelerated arms deliveries from its western allies.
"Brussels, we are waiting for a decision," said Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podoliak on Twitter shortly before the meeting of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group.
Russia is superior to Ukraine in its artillery “by a ratio of ten to one,” wrote Podoliak.
"I get messages every day from our fighters saying, 'We're standing, just tell us when the guns are coming,'" he added.
Ukraine-News: Selenskyj invited to the NATO summit - type of participation still unclear
Update from June 15, 12:20 p.m .:
NATO invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj as a guest to its summit in Madrid.
However, as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced, it is not yet clear whether Selenskyj will actually be arriving or will be connected from his office in Kyiv.
“He is welcome to come in person.
If that is not possible for him, he will speak to us via video conference,” said Stoltenberg.
At the summit meeting of the western military alliance that begins on June 28 in the Spanish capital, the heads of state and government of the 30 NATO countries want to decide how the alliance will react to the threats posed by Russia's war policy in the medium and long term.
Specifically, this involves, for example, strengthening the eastern flank with additional NATO troops.
The Baltic states in particular have been pushing for significantly greater support from allies since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Ukraine-News: Stoltenberg announces heavy weapons for Ukraine - including long-range weapons
Update from June 15, 11:15 am:
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has described the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine as a "brutal war of attrition" and signaled further heavy weapons for Ukraine.
There is "destruction on a very large scale," he said at a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Tonight's defense ministers' meeting with Ukraine, Georgia, Sweden, Finland and the EU will give Ukraine's defense minister the opportunity to "inform what Ukraine urgently needs."
For the NATO partners, it will be an opportunity "to continue to support Ukraine and to make this public".
Earlier, Stoltenberg promised more heavy weapons for Ukraine.
Allies have committed to continue to provide military support to Ukraine,
announced the Secretary General.
This would include heavy weapons as well as long-range weapons.
Ukraine-News: Putin's military attacks eastern Ukraine - Kyiv demands heavy weapons from the West
First report from June 15:
The Hague/Munich - In the Ukraine conflict, the troops of the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin continued their attacks on Ukrainian territory without interruption.
The Donbass region in eastern Ukraine is the primary focus.
This map shows where the Ukraine war is raging.
Russia is attacking eastern Ukraine from all sides.
In order to be able to defend itself more effectively against Putin's war of aggression, the Ukrainian government has long been demanding more heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery from Western countries.
These demands have been partially met, but only after lengthy discussions and to a limited extent that does not satisfy Ukraine.
NATO has now indicated further deliveries of heavy weapons.
Ukraine-News: Kyiv demands heavy weapons - Zelenskyj's adviser with a list of demands
Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Ukraine's chief negotiator Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted on Monday
(June 13)
a list of the number of heavy weapons Ukraine needs to end the war with Russia.
The weapons involved were:
1000
howitzers
of 155 mm caliber
300
Multiple Rocket Launchers
500
tanks
2000
armored vehicles
1000
drones
“The meeting of the defense ministers' contact group is in Brussels on June 15.
We are waiting for a decision," Podolyak wrote in his tweet.
NATO could soon make the decision expected by Ukraine to increase its heavy weapons, as statements by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at a meeting with the heads of state and government of several NATO countries suggest.
Ukraine-News: NATO signals heavy weapons for Ukraine - Poland criticizes previous attitude
The meeting at the official residence of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague was attended by Stoltenberg and Rutte, as well as the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Portugal and Latvia, as well as the President of Romania.
The main focus of the meeting was continued support to Ukraine.
"Yes, Ukraine should have more heavy weapons," the AFP
news agency quoted
Stoltenberg as saying in The Hague.
The NATO allies and partners have already provided heavy weapons.
"But now there will be more," announced the Secretary General.
Ukraine depends on it "to defend itself against the brutal Russian invasion".
NATO must be ready "to provide support for a long time," Stoltenberg emphasized, and Rutte confirmed this with a nod and a hand gesture.
This will be discussed in Brussels.
At the meeting, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized the previous stance on supporting Ukraine.
"We haven't done enough to defend Ukraine and support the Ukrainian people to defend their freedom," Morawiecki said, according to the
Associated Press
news agency .
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
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He called on NATO countries to supply more heavy weapons, including artillery.
"Where is our credibility if Ukraine fails?" asked the Polish Prime Minister, adding: "Can we imagine that if Ukraine fails, we will just go back to the original situation?"
I hope not.” The delivery of further heavy weapons should also be a major topic during Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Kyiv.
(bb)
