Putin's spokesman surprises with Odessa thesis - Zelenskyj now sees "open gas war against Europe"

Created: 07/28/2022, 14:21

By: Franziska Schwarz

Directly supply arms to Ukraine?

Corresponding demands are now coming from the ranks of the Greens and the FDP.

News ticker on war diplomacy.

• Ukraine news

  and

  energy crisis

  : Zelenskyj now sees “open gas war against Europe”

• Missiles on Odessa

  despite

  the grain deal

  : Putin's spokesman surprises with his thesis.

• German arms deliveries

  to

  Ukraine

  : Kiev gets first “cheetah”

• This news ticker has ended.

  You can find all

  the latest news on the negotiations and sanctions

  in the Ukraine war here.

Update from July 26, 9.49 a.m

.: Important dates in terms of war diplomacy: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visits the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The Greens politician also wants to talk about the Ukraine war there.

The Czech Republic has held the EU Council Presidency since July 1st.

In addition, the EU gas emergency plan is to be officially confirmed at a special meeting of energy ministers in Brussels.

Ukraine news and energy crisis: Zelenskyj now sees “open gas war against Europe”

Update from July 26, 7:22 a.m .:

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sees a form of Moscow’s “terror” against the West in the further throttling of Russian gas supplies to Europe.

"This is an open gas war that Russia is unleashing against a united Europe," said Zelenskyy in his evening video message on Monday.

Russia is deliberately making it difficult for Europe to prepare for the winter.

The country is showing once again that it is not interested in the fate of the people.

By blocking Ukrainian grain exports, Russia is making people starve, suffering from cold, poverty and occupation.

"These are just different forms of terror," said Zelenskyj, referring to the announcement by the Russian gas company Gazprom that it would cut supplies through the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 to 20 percent of capacity from Wednesday.

Gazprom gave the reason that another gas turbine had to be repaired.

For this reason, the current 40 percent output will be further reduced to 33 million cubic meters of gas per day, it said.

Nord Stream 1 is Germany's most important supply pipeline for gas from Russia.

, representatives of EU countries have

meanwhile agreed on an emergency plan to reduce gas consumption.

It is to be officially confirmed on Tuesday at a special meeting of energy ministers in Brussels.

Zelenskyj calls for further sanctions against Russia

The cutback in gas supplies is another threat to Europe, Zelensky said.

That is why the West must strike back.

Instead of thinking about returning the gas turbine that has already been repaired, the sanctions against Russia should be further tightened.

"Do everything possible to reduce Russia's revenues not only from gas and oil, but also from other exports that remain," he said.

Zelenskyy warned that any further trade relationship is a "potential means of pressure on Russia".

It has long had a reputation for using its gas as a "geopolitical weapon."

Despite the war, part of the gas from Russia continues to be pumped through Ukraine to Western Europe.

Russia attacks Odessa port

Update from July 25, 4:30 p.m

.: Russia fired rockets at the port of Odessa.

Millions of tons of Ukrainian grain are supposed to be shipped there.

Russia thinks that is still possible.

The rockets hit the part of the port used for military purposes and thus at a “significant distance” from the grain silos, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday during his trip to Africa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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From the Russian side, nothing stands in the way of fulfilling Friday's Istanbul agreement, he said.

At the same time, Lavrov made it clear that such an attack could happen again at any time.

According to Lavrov, Russia did not make any commitments in the Istanbul agreement "that would prohibit us from continuing special military operations and destroying military infrastructure and other military targets." 

Russian Grain Agreement

In the agreement with Turkey on Friday, Russia pledged to allow export ships to use a sea corridor and not to shoot at them.

The three ports involved must therefore not be attacked.

Among other things, it is about the export of millions of tons of grain.

The agreement, signed through the mediation of the United Nations and Turkey, provides for exports to be monitored from a control center in Istanbul.

Update from July 25, 1:43 p.m

.: Israeli Prime Minister Jair Lapid warns of worse relations with Russia if the “Jewish Agency for Israel” is dissolved.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) strives for the immigration of Jews to Israel.

Your ban is a "serious event," said Lapid, according to his office.

Ukraine-News: 17,000 people have left Russia for Israel since January

The Russian Ministry of Justice had filed a lawsuit against the NGO.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov referred to violations of Russian laws.

According to Lapid, a delegation is due to travel to Moscow later this week to persuade the Russian authorities to change their minds.

Peskov dismissed speculation that Moscow wanted to prevent more "smart people" from Russia migrating to Israel.

According to the Israeli Ministry of Integration, almost 17,000 people have left Russia for Israel in 2022 - more than twice as many as in the previous year.

In Israel, however, people are convinced that Moscow wants to use the ban to punish the country for its position in the Ukraine war.

The Israeli government has condemned the Russian war of aggression, but has not yet imposed any sanctions.

Observers justify this with Israel's security interests.

Among other things, Russia has a major influence on the situation in Syria, a neighboring country to Israel.

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Update from July 25, 12:39 p.m .:

Ukraine has received the first Gepard anti-aircraft tanks from Germany.

"Today the first three cheetahs officially arrived," Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Ukrainian television.

Several tens of thousands of shots were also handed over.

Missiles on Odessa despite grain deal: Putin's spokesman surprises with his thesis

Update from July 25, 12:24 p.m

.: Despite its attack on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa, Russia sees no difficulties for the planned resumption of grain exports.

"This cannot and should not affect the start of shipping," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Moscow initially denied being responsible for the rocket attacks on Odessa despite the grain deal, but then admitted the attacks - exclusively on "military infrastructure".

The information could not be checked independently.

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj had condemned the rocket fire on Odessa as "obvious Russian barbarism", and the attack also earned international outrage.

Germany's weapons plan for Kyiv: will the tank turnaround follow?

First report from July 25

: Kiev/Berlin - The arms deliveries to the Ukraine by ring exchange are stalling.

Therefore, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann is now also open to the direct delivery of German tanks to the Ukraine.

The idea of ​​ring exchange came up shortly after the beginning of the Ukraine war.

The aim was actually to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons as quickly as possible.

To this end, Eastern NATO partners should provide weapons of Soviet design that Ukrainian soldiers can handle without additional training.

As a replacement, they were to receive western makes from alliance partners such as Germany.

A Bundeswehr Leopard 2 tank © Michael Kappeler/dpa

Weapons deliveries to Ukraine: Strack-Zimmermann doubts ring exchange

The committee chairman Strack-Zimmermann admitted that the Eastern European alliance partners could not be equipped with replacements as quickly as expected.

"If that is problematic for the partners, we should stop the ring exchange and deliver directly to Ukraine - possibly also the (main battle tank) Leopard 2. Time is short," said the FDP defense politician of the dpa news agency.

Previously, Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt (Greens) had shown herself open to direct tank deliveries to Ukraine.

The Young Liberals also criticized the ring exchange procedure. 

Nord Stream 1: Will Moscow reinstall the turbine?

Meanwhile, Germany in particular is waiting to see whether Russia, under Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, will take back the turbine that has been repaired in Canada and has long been held back due to sanctions.

Moscow had justified the throttled Russian gas deliveries via the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline since June with the missing turbine and repeatedly demanded the return of the unit and the associated documents.

Doubts are now growing that Moscow is even interested in reinstalling the turbine.

For its part, Moscow is reportedly reluctant to provide the necessary documents for the transfer of the plane.

Meanwhile, Federal Network Agency boss Klaus Müller has shown himself to be largely satisfied with the current filling rate of the gas storage facilities.

They are "finally back on a proper storage path," he tweeted.