Ukraine News: Researchers warn of nuclear escalation - Russia announcement to the West on US TV

Created: 06/22/2022, 05:01

By: Kathrin Reikowski, Stephanie Munk

According to Ukrainian President Selenskyj, the Ukraine war could intensify this week: the reason is the pending decision on Ukraine's EU candidate status.

• Zelenskyj

  warns of

  "hostile actions"

  : President Volodymyr Zelenskyj makes a gloomy forecast that also includes European countries.

• Peace researchers warn

  : The ongoing Ukraine conflict is leading to violence worldwide.

  They also warn of nuclear escalation.

• Russian oligarchs

  : Putin supporters are losing billions in assets due to sanctions.

• This

  news ticker on negotiations and diplomatic efforts

  in the escalating Ukraine conflict is constantly updated.

Update from June 21, 3:57 p.m .:

In Moscow, a local politician is on trial for spreading alleged false information about the Russian army in the Ukraine war.

City councilor Alexei Gorinov had publicly criticized the Ukraine war and now faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.

At the start of the trial on Tuesday, the 60-year-old held up a note with the inscription “No to war”.

According to the website Mediasona, which specializes in monitoring court cases, Gorinov had criticized Russia's "aggression" against Ukraine at a working meeting in mid-March.

He therefore called for leisure activities in his constituency to be avoided, in particular a painting competition for children.

"Children become orphans, and the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the participants in World War II are sent to the hell of fighting in Ukraine," Gorinov said, according to Mediasona.

Civil society must therefore fight to "end the war and achieve the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory".

Gorinov was arrested at the end of April and has been in custody since then.

He is charged with "spreading false information" about the Russian army - a criminal offense introduced in early March to silence critics of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Amnesty International called for Gorinov's immediate release.

The human rights organization also criticized its "high-profile process" that aims to send a "deterrent message."

Ukraine as an EU accession candidate?

Broad support is emerging

Update from June 21, 2:22 p.m .:

Shortly before the decisive EU summit at the end of this week, the EU states are showing broad support for the prospect of EU membership for Ukraine and Moldova.

There is currently not a single country causing problems, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Luxembourg.

There will be great unanimity.

The French Secretary of State for Europe, Clement Beaune, as the current Chairman of the EU Council of Ministers for Europe, also expressed his confidence.

"I think there's a consensus forming right now," he said.

He is optimistic, but also cautious, because unanimity is needed at heads of state and government summits.

For example, it is still unclear whether EU states such as Austria, Slovenia and Croatia will link their approval of the EU accession candidate status for Ukraine and Moldova to progress in efforts to expand the EU to include the Western Balkans.

Specifically, there are calls, among other things, for Bosnia-Herzegovina to be granted the status of an EU accession candidate.

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Researchers warn of nuclear escalation in Ukraine war

Update from June 21, 11:36 a.m .:

Germany’s leading peace research institutes have warned of new crises as a result of the Ukraine war.

The sharp rise in raw material and food prices is threatening "a food crisis, especially for African developing and emerging countries," the peace researchers said in their peace report 2022, which was presented at the federal press conference on Tuesday dependent.

"In the past, rising food prices there have repeatedly been the cause of so-called 'bread riots' and led to an escalation of violence," the peace researchers explained.

Regardless of the Ukraine war, the number of violent conflicts worldwide has recently increased again.

Of the 128 conflicts counted in 2020, 78 took place on the African continent.

Against the background of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the scientists warned of a nuclear escalation.

"A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be waged," it said.

Germany should therefore work to prevent the proliferation and expansion of nuclear arsenals.

It is also important to plan now for the time after the war and to develop strategies for a "new European peace order".

The most urgent task for the European Union is to become “more agile and capable of acting” in foreign and security policy.

Ukraine war: Russia's dispute with Lithuania comes to a head

Updated June 21st.

10:52 a.m .:

Russia is apparently serious about the dispute with Lithuania.

The Kremlin accuses the country of blocking the Russian exclave.

Lithuania is citing EU sanctions against Russia in its moves.

According to TASS, the head of the EU delegation in Moscow, Markus Ederer, was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

Update from June 21, 7:26 a.m

.: Russia sees relations with the West as damaged.

"Yes, it will be a long crisis," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in an interview with US television channel MSNBC that was broadcast on Tuesday night.

"We will never trust the West again." Since the beginning of its war against Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly raised accusations against Western states - for example because of military support for the country under attack.

Ukraine News: US President unlikely to visit Ukraine

US President Joe Biden has described a visit to Ukraine as part of the upcoming trips to Europe and the Middle East as "unlikely".

In general, such a trip always depends on whether it would bring difficulties and distractions for Ukraine, Biden said on Monday in Rehoboth Beach in his home state of Delaware.

At the end of June, the US President will attend the summit of the G7 countries in Germany in Elmau, after which he will travel to the NATO summit in Madrid.

Biden has not traveled to Ukraine since war broke out on February 24.

However, his wife Jill made a surprise visit to Ukraine in May.

Ukraine-News: Zelenskyj accuses Russia of taking Africa hostages

Update from June 20, 5:59 p.m

.: According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, negotiations to lift the blockade of Ukrainian ports are difficult.

“We are conducting complex, multi-level negotiations to unblock our Ukrainian ports.

But there is no progress yet," he said in a video address at an African Union (AU) meeting on Monday.

No real instrument has yet been found to ensure that Russia (the ports) does not attack again.

Ukraine war: Zelenskyj addresses the world via video

View photo gallery

Zelenskyy accused Russia of taking Africa "hostage" in the conflict.

"The global food crisis will last as long as this colonial war lasts," said the head of state.

Millions of tons of grain are currently stuck in Ukrainian ports, destined mainly for Africa.

Because of the blockade by the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, they cannot be exported.

Ukraine-News: World Food Program counts many more starving people

Update from June 20, 5:03 p.m

.: The World Food Program (WFP) of the United Nations counts 345 million people in 82 countries who are suffering from acute hunger.

That is over 200 million more than before the corona pandemic and the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

"The danger is very real that the world's food and nutrition needs will soon exceed the capacity of WFP - or any other organization," states the latest WFP report.

According to experts, the worst humanitarian crisis since the end of the Second World War is imminent.

Because of the Russian attack, the blockade of the Black Sea ports and the enormous rise in grain prices on the world market, many countries in Africa, for example, cannot be supplied with foodstuffs such as wheat as planned.

According to BR24 information, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto suggested during a meeting of EU foreign ministers that the grain could be exported from Ukraine via Hungary.

Ukraine-News: Russian oligarchs lose access to more than 12.5 billion euros due to sanctions

Update from June 20, 4:40 p.m

.: Russian oligarchs and other supporters of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine have lost access to significant assets in recent months due to EU sanctions.

The amount of frozen assets has almost doubled from 6.7 billion euros in April to currently just over 12.5 billion euros, said EU Commission spokesman Christian Wigand on Monday, confirming a report by the

.

This also included assets such as yachts, helicopters, real estate and works of art.

Assets of the Russian central bank are not included.

Commission circles said that the increase in frozen assets was “mainly” due to the fact that numerous assets had been located and blocked in recent weeks, especially in Germany.

On Monday it became known that the public prosecutor's office in Munich had confiscated several apartments from Russian Putin supporters.

Ukraine-News: USA suspend drone delivery to Ukraine - for fear of Russia

Update from June 20, 11:39 a.m

.: According to information from the Bulgarian platform

, the USA had suspended drone deliveries to Ukraine due to technical concerns.

As a US reporter, Mike Stone, claims to have learned from two senior Pentagon sources, concerns arose during a debate about the safety of the weapons.

According to the information, Ukraine had been promised several high-tech drones MQ-1C Gray Eagles, which can fly persistently, provide reconnaissance and attack enemy positions.

Should the drones fall into Russian hands, there could be a risk that Russia could receive sensitive information about US radar systems, the Pentagon apparently feared.

However, the last word has not yet been spoken - higher levels in the Pentagon should now deal with it.

One way Ukraine could still get hold of the high-tech weapons from the United States is to replace the radar systems.

However, Pentagon informants said it could take months.

Ukraine-News: Selenskyj speaks of "historic week" - EU consultations on Ukraine

First report from June 20:

Kiev - "Tomorrow begins a truly historic week when we hear from the European Union the answer on Ukraine's candidate status," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj on Monday night.

Will this "historic" decision affect possible negotiations surrounding the Ukraine war with Vladimir Putin?

Selenskyj makes at least a forecast for the near future.

Ukraine talks: Zelenskyy warns of "hostile actions"

During the visit to Kyiv by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the country was promised that Ukraine could be granted EU accession candidate status.

The EU Commission then issued a corresponding recommendation on Friday.

Now all 27 member states have to agree to it.

The final decision is to be made at the EU summit this week, on 23/24.

June fall. 

Selenskyj has a fear for the course of the war in his country - and for the situation in other EU countries: Because of the decision on EU accession status, Russia will "demonstratively intensify its hostile actions".

He warned that Russia's "hostile actions" would not only target Ukraine but other European countries as well.

, the Kremlin is closely monitoring the further course of the accession negotiations,

although Putin had announced that he had nothing against Ukraine joining the EU .

newspaper, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said

: "Putin seems to be afraid that the spark of democracy could spread to his country.

That is why for years he has been pursuing a policy aimed at dissolving NATO and the EU.”

Ukraine-News: Ursula von der Leyen on Ukraine - EU Commission chief expects candidate status

EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, in her own words, firmly believes that Ukraine will receive candidate status, as she said on Sunday evening on the ARD talk show "Anne Will".

Around three and a half months ago, shortly after the start of the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine applied for admission to the EU.

Ukraine-News: War is topic of meeting of EU foreign ministers

The war in Ukraine and support for the country attacked by Russia is also the focus of a summit and economic forum of the states of the so-called Three Seas Initiative this week.

The two-day meeting, which begins on Monday (1 p.m.) will take place in the Latvian capital, Riga.

Meanwhile, the EU foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg.

This meeting will also focus on the latest developments in Ukraine.