As the war rages on in Ukraine, Olaf Scholz speaks at the World Economic Forum.
The news ticker on war diplomacy.
Selenskyj
takes the whole world to task: "You mustn't hesitate again."
Debate on
'anti-Russian attitudes'
: Russia demands UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.
New ammunition for Kiev:
The Pentagon will send artillery shells to Ukraine via Israel.
This
news ticker on diplomacy in the Ukraine war
is constantly updated.
Update from January 18, 6:15 p.m .:
The European Parliament is asking Chancellor Olaf Scholz to clear the way for the delivery of Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine.
The chancellor should "without further delay" initiate a consortium of countries that can provide such tanks, according to a motion by the Greens, which was approved by MPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday with a large majority.
Shortly before Ukraine's western allies discuss further arms deliveries in Ramstein in Rhineland-Palatinate on Friday, the pressure on Scholz to make a decision on this issue increases further.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, however, the Chancellor did not yet indicate any trend.
He again pointed out that Germany, together with Great Britain and after the USA, is already one of the largest arms suppliers to Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia.
"We will continue to be such a big supporter," he promised.
Germany will deliver weapons as long as it is necessary.
Even when asked, however, he avoided the word "Leopard 2 tank".
Selenskyj takes the whole world to task – "You mustn't hesitate again"
Update from January 18, 5:20 p.m
.: In these minutes, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
He begins his speech with a minute's silence for the victims of the war and commemorates his Minister of the Interior, who died in a helicopter crash today.
He then appealed to the world community for unconditional support of the war-torn country.
"The world must act faster than Russia," says Zelenskyj.
“The world hesitated when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
She must not hesitate again.” Zelenskyj describes Putin as “our common enemy” and says: “We will end this war.”
+
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in a video link to participants of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
© Fabrice Coffrini/AFP
Update from January 18, 4:25 p.m .:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos on the Ukraine war and possible German tank deliveries.
Germany is "one of the biggest supporters" of Ukraine and will continue to support the country in the war against Russia.
In addition to "humanitarian and military aid", they want to do more.
The German government will continue to discuss the events of the Ukraine war in close consultation with France, the USA and Great Britain.
But you want to make sure that the conflict does not degenerate into a war between Russia and NATO, said Scholz.
+
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
© Markus Schreiber/dpa/AP
Negotiations in the Ukraine war: Söder demands German tank deliveries
Update from January 18, 3 p.m.:
Bavaria’s Prime Minister and CSU party leader Markus Söder has spoken out in favor of a delivery of German Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.
“Germany has decided to supply weapons.
You can't really explain to me why one tank shouldn't be a problem, but another one should be," said Söder on Wednesday in Kloster Banz near Bad Staffelstein on the sidelines of the closed session of the CSU parliamentary group.
The 56-year-old did not rule out a third term there.
The Contact Group for the Defense of Ukraine met at the US base in Ramstein on Friday to discuss aid for the country attacked by Russia.
The new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) will take part for the first time on behalf of the federal government.
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Tanks, drones, anti-aircraft defenses: weapons for Ukraine
Update from January 18, 1:40 p.m .:
Pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in the weapons debate: The European Parliament has asked Germany to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine.
The MEPs approved a motion by the Greens with a large majority.
The EU institution demands from Scholz to “initiate a European consortium of relevant European countries to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine without further delay,” as the paper literally says.
The text was proposed by the German Greens politician Reinhard Bütikofer.
The step is considered unusual - especially since the application was submitted by a member of the Greens involved in the federal government.
Arms delivery to Ukraine: Netherlands provides Patriot defense system
Update from January 18, 12:30 p.m .:
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has declared that a Patriot system will be sent to Ukraine.
Rutte said in a joint speech with US President Joe Biden in Washington that they "intended" to follow the US and Germany in deploying the missile defense system.
"I think it's important that we join that and I also discussed this with Olaf Scholz from Germany this morning," he said.
The US and Germany have each promised to supply the Patriot systems to Ukraine in recent weeks.
Negotiations in the Ukraine war: Lavrov describes Zelenskyj's peace plan as "ridiculous"
Update January 18, 11:30
a.m.: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that the plan proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for a peaceful settlement of the war between Russia and Ukraine "is out of the question".
This is reported by the Russian state agency
Tass
.
"Zelenskyy put forward some absolutely ridiculous initiatives, a 10-point plan into which he squeezed everything he could: food security, energy security, biosecurity, withdrawal of Russian troops from everywhere, Russian Federation repentance, a tribunal, sentencing and... so on,” Lavrov is quoted as saying.
At the G20 summit in Bali, Zelenskyj proposed a corresponding negotiation plan.
For Moscow, however, talks under these circumstances have not yet been an issue.
Lavrov also blamed the United States for the Ukraine war.
Washington would prepare for a hybrid war against Russia.
The Russian foreign minister also compared the US actions with the actions of Adolf Hitler and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Negotiations in the Ukraine war: USA sends ammunition to Ukraine
Update from January 18, 10:40 a.m .:
According to a media report, the US Department of Defense wants to hand over ammunition stored in Israel to Ukraine.
As the
New York Times
reported on Wednesday, the Pentagon is currently preparing to transfer arms to the country under Russian attack.
About half of the 300,000 artillery shells destined for Ukraine have already been shipped to Europe.
A spokesman for the Israeli military confirmed to the
German Press Agency (dpa)
that equipment stored in Israel was handed over to the US armed forces at the request of the United States a few weeks ago.
According to the information, Israel had previously expressed concerns.
The country feared that the supply of stocks to Ukraine could jeopardize relations with Russia.
According to the media report, the US arms reserves in Israel were set up in 1973 in the Yom Kippur War, which Egypt, Syria and other Arab countries waged against Israel.
The reserves served to supply US forces in the Middle East.
In addition, Israel was able to fall back on a part in an emergency, it said.
The US government has therefore promised to replenish the stocks.
Negotiations in the Ukraine war: Putin wants to give a speech
First report from January 18:
Moscow – The Ukraine war has been raging in Europe for almost eleven months.
There is still no end in sight.
According to estimates by the US Institute for War Studies (ISW), Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin could soon announce a second wave of mobilization, possibly even at the appearance in Saint Petersburg planned for today.
When and where Putin will give his speech is not yet known.
The think tank cites, among other things, Russian military bloggers.
Ukrainian and western secret services have also repeatedly warned of Putin's mobilization preparations for mid-January.
Putin could also use the opportunity to declare war on Ukraine, the latest ISW report said.
In Russia, the invasion is called "military special operation" in official parlance.
Public use of the term “war” is punishable under criminal law.
Russia demands UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine
Meanwhile, a Russian UN envoy announced that Moscow would respond harshly to criticism of its invasion of Ukraine and hold an informal meeting at the panel to lay out its stance.
In a post on Telegram, Russia's top diplomat Dmitry Polyansky criticized that UN members took an "anti-Russian" stance "once a month" during discussions about the Ukraine war.
Polyansky also wrote that on Friday (January 20) there will be a so-called "Arria Formula" session in the Security Council, which will deal with the shelling of Donbass in December.
"There will be interesting speakers and facts," said the diplomat.
Arria meetings are an informal and interactive format for meetings of members of the Security Council.
Ukraine War: Focus on Davos
Today, however, the focus is first on Davos, where this afternoon Chancellor Olaf Scholz (3.45 p.m.) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj (5 p.m.) will address the entrepreneurs and heads of state and government.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is expected to take part in a panel discussion.
(
cs/nak with dpa
)
List of rubrics: © Fabrice Coffrini/AFP