Ukraine-News: Selenskyj criticizes the Israeli government for the lack of aid
Created: 06/24/2022, 06:12
By: Richard Strobl
Ukraine is hoping for candidate status ahead of the important EU summit.
Russia clashes with the US.
The negotiations in the news ticker.
Russia
accuses
USA of blocking planes
: Washington is said to have blocked a plane with Russian diplomats.
Ukraine
is hoping for
EU
candidate status
:
the
draft resolution has now been leaked.
This
news ticker
on the negotiations in the Ukraine war is updated regularly.
Update from June 23, 4:55 p.m .:
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has publicly criticized Israel's position on Russia.
Zelenskyi said in a video address to students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Thursday that he found it difficult to understand the attitude of the Israeli government.
Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and has family members in Israel, said in his speech that he was very grateful to the people of Israel for the "sincere and moral support of the Ukrainian people".
But Ukraine "would also like to receive support from your [Israel's
]
government."
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett did not impose any sanctions on Russia and also refrained from criticizing the Kremlin.
Observers suspect that Bennett did not want to jeopardize relations with Moscow.
Although humanitarian and medical aid has been provided, arms deliveries are not an issue in Jerusalem.
A position that Selenskyj also criticizes.
"How can one refuse to help the victims of such aggression?" asked the President in his speech.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (r), President of Ukraine, has publicly criticized Israel's position in the Ukraine war.
© Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/dpa
Blocked grain exports from Ukraine - Turkey and Great Britain demand quick solution
Update from June 23, 12.45 p.m .:
In view of the Russian blockade of grain exports from Ukraine, Turkey and Great Britain have pushed for a quick solution.
“This grain crisis is urgent and needs to be resolved within the next month.
Otherwise, the consequences could be devastating,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told reporters in Ankara after meeting her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Çavusoglu.
Russia uses hunger as a weapon.
Turkey and Britain worked closely together to get the grain out of Ukraine.
Cavusoglu said the issue needed to be resolved "as soon as possible," but that some security-related hurdles still stood in the way.
Turkey supports a UN plan for a control center in Istanbul to monitor the passage of ships in and out of a "safe zone" outside Ukrainian waters.
According to information from UN security circles, there could be talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey next week - together with UN Secretary General António Guterres.
Ukraine War News: Russia accuses USA of blocking planes - plane with diplomats
Update from June 22, 10:10 p.m .:
Russia accuses the United States of blocking a flight with designated Russian diplomats.
The Russian plane was supposed to fly out diplomats who were instructed by the US government to leave the United States by the end of the month, the State Department in Moscow said.
However, Washington did not allow this.
Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova therefore threatened unspecified countermeasures on Wednesday.
The US State Department did not comment in detail.
However, it complained that Russia did not present the situation correctly.
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There has long been a dispute between the United States and Russia over diplomatic personnel.
Both countries had already expelled diplomats from each other four months before the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
After the war began, US airspace was closed to aircraft from Russia.
In March, however, a Russian government machine was allowed to pick up expelled diplomats in Washington.
EU summit on Thursday: legitimate hopes for Ukraine to join
Original message from June 22, 8:00 p.m.:
Brussels – In the shadow of the escalating Ukraine conflict, a possibly historic decision by the EU is pending: the 27 member states will decide at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday about the possible EU candidate status for Ukraine.
The country of President Volodymyr Zelenskyj can have legitimate hopes in view of a leaked draft of the summit declaration.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (l) speaks at a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelenskyj.
© Michael Fischer/dpa
Ukraine hopes for EU candidate status - draft suggests "yes".
The draft of the summit declaration already anticipates the positive vote following the consultations of the past few days: "The European Council has decided to grant Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova the status of candidate countries," says the text, which is available to the AFP news agency.
A time frame for the lengthy accession process is not mentioned in the draft of the summit declaration.
It only says that the member states would decide on "further steps as soon as all conditions are met".
The much-vaunted turning point is now also reflected in the candidate question: never before has the peace community EU given a country at war the prospect of accession, and at record speed.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy only applied for his country's admission at the end of February, four days after the Russian attack.
Scholz had already made a commitment last week: "Germany is in favor of a positive decision in favor of Ukraine," he said during his joint trip to Kyiv with Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi.
Skeptics like the Netherlands or Denmark then joined.
Scholz confirmed on Wednesday (June 22) in his government statement in the Bundestag that he would work towards this.
The Chancellor emphasized that this was "Europe's response to the turning point" triggered by the Russian war of aggression.
Ukraine wants EU candidate status: corruption, rule of law and other hurdles
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Ukraine and Moldova to undertake extensive reforms on Friday.
You have a huge program to tackle before the EU can decide whether to start the actual accession negotiations.
Whether it's the rule of law, democracy or the fight against corruption - the hurdles are high and the process is likely to take years.
"Nobody knows whether Ukraine will ever join," says an experienced EU diplomat.
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
View photo gallery
In addition, Scholz and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer want to send a clear signal to the Western Balkan countries that their desire to join the country will not be ignored in the wake of the Ukraine war.
A summit meeting with Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina is scheduled before the actual EU summit.
EU candidate status for Ukraine: Western Balkans upset
Some Balkan states are frustrated by the lack of progress: Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania briefly threatened to boycott the Brussels summit, but now they want to come anyway.
The summit is overshadowed by the tensions surrounding Kaliningrad: Russia is threatening EU and NATO member Lithuania with massive consequences because it has stopped the rail transport of certain goods, such as metals, to the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea.
However, this has been agreed with Brussels as part of the EU sanctions against Russia.
