Russia and the Scourge of War
The United Nations building in New York has always fascinated me.
Not architecturally, no, but politically.
There's the hustle and bustle of Manhattan and then, past the security gate to the United Nations compound: the world.
That's how I felt there.
In the center of the world.
Because (almost) all countries on this planet come together here.
The UN exhilaration.
Barack Obama once wrote of the "mood of hope and anticipation" that overcomes him as he approaches the building, this "soaring white monolith" on the East River.
The preamble to the 1945 UN Charter is political poetry.
"Future generations" are to be protected from the "scourge of war";
of "the dignity and worth of the human personality" is written there;
of the belief in the equal rights of all nations "whether large or small";
the members want »to live together in peace as good neighbors«.
And gun violence?
Should only be "applied in the common interest".
uh
Great.
Unfortunately, the UN was not able to redeem these claims.
The world has not become poetic but has remained prosaic.
And that brings us to Russia and the scourge of war.
With the attack on Ukraine, the Putin regime is making a mockery of every single point of this charter of the international community.
Each.
And what can the world do about it?
The UN General Assembly in New York has been discussing the approaching anniversary of the Russian aggression since Wednesday.
Today is the decisive day: A (non-binding) resolution is to demand peace in Ukraine and a withdrawal of the Russians from the country.
Only: how many of the 193 UN member states will agree?
And who will vote against or abstain?
Last March, 141 states voted in favor of a similar resolution, in April Russia's membership of the UN Human Rights Council was suspended with a narrow majority of 93 votes, and in October 143 states condemned the "illegal annexations" of Ukrainian regions by Russia.
And today?
When you read this LAGE in the morning, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is on the plane on her way to New York. She has been campaigning extensively in the background for the resolution for the past few weeks.
She will do this again in a few hours before the General Assembly.
My tireless colleague Marina Kormbaki is with me on the plane and in New York.
Baerbock has been on the phone a lot in the past few days to secure as many yes votes as possible for the Ukraine resolution, says Marina.
Will Brazil go with you?
This is a central question in the Federal Foreign Office - because many countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia are based on the South American country.
“In other words, states on whose yes vote Baerbock and the West depend in order to achieve their goal: to isolate Russia on the international stage.
Almost a year ago, 141 states condemned Russia's war of aggression.
If there are fewer than 120 this time, it would be a failure - for Baerbock and the western community," says Marina.
Discussion on Russia's special tribunal: "An arrest warrant against Putin would have immense symbolic power"
You can find more news and background information on the war in Ukraine here:
The most recent developments: The government in Kiev has sharply condemned the way Russians treat children.
The Kremlin speaks of "war like 80 years ago".
And: Habeck wants to monitor sanctions more closely.
The dead that Putin is hiding:
They are looking in cemeteries, in archives, on the Internet: Russian volunteers want to find out how many soldiers really died in Ukraine.
Their database reveals amazing details.
"An arrest warrant against Putin would have immense symbolic power":
When will Germany become a war party and how could Vladimir Putin be brought to justice?
The international law expert Claus Kress clears up false arguments and explains how the West should set up a special tribunal.
Berlin probed and probed and probed
In the democratic spectrum in the capital, everyone is probing with everyone these days – except for the left.
Only the SPD and the Greens are probing with them.
Today they will do this for the second time.
The three have been governing together in the state of Berlin for a good six years, but you can definitely get to know each other again.
The social democrat Franziska Giffey and the Green Bettina Jarasch say that something has to change anyway - Giffey says that because of the election gossip, Jarasch because of eye level.
And the left would also like a change, pointing to the referendum on the expropriation of large housing groups, which was positively decided in 2021, which they would now like to have implemented somehow.
This is the situation:
Three want change, but possibly continue together.
Currently, one must always add, the SPD is ahead of the Greens.
There are exactly 92 votes this Thursday.
can change
92 votes in a city of almost four million - that's, well, super tight.
The official final result will not be announced until next Monday.
Then it is clear who can be a cook and who has to be a waitress.
If, yes, if there should be a new edition of red-green-red.
However, the generally best argument against red-green-red does not work in Berlin: the left.
At the federal level and in most states, this party is not capable of governing (if it is represented at all in parliament).
The Berlin left, however, belongs to the last reasonable part of a party drifting into the politically irrational.
Just look at the debate about the so-called peace rally planned by Sahra Wagenknecht (and Alice Schwarzer) next Saturday at the Brandenburg Gate.
This is more of a surrender rally against Ukraine - with the expected participation of radical and extreme right-wing circles around Putin's comrades from the AfD.
On the other hand, the leaders of the Berlin Left, headed by state chairwoman Katina Schubert, top candidate Klaus Lederer and Senator for Social Affairs Katja Kipping, want to demonstrate on Friday in front of the Russian embassy on Unter den Linden: “We stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
To this end, we demand a stop to the Russian war of aggression, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and diplomatic initiatives for a lasting peace.«
Greetings from the UN Charter.
Instead of a demo with Wagenknecht: Berlin leftists around Kipping want to demonstrate in front of the Russian embassy
How SPIEGEL reporters experience the war
Here in the morning, a colleague from the Ukraine or Russia reports every day this week.
»What was your most impressive moment during this year of war?«
– I asked them this question.
Thore Schröder has been reporting on the war in Ukraine for SPIEGEL since April. He saw the destruction in Kharkiv and experienced the devastating battles in Donbass.
Here he writes about what he experienced in Bucha:
The images still have an impact: dead civilians on the pavement of Jablunska Street in Bucha, some shot from their bicycles, others with their hands tied behind their backs. On April 3 we arrived in the Kiev suburb where the Russian army had been indiscriminately murdering during its occupation.
Until the early morning of February 24, many people in Europe had not believed that Putin's army would invade the neighboring country on a broad front.
Until the beginning of April - until Bucha - it was inconceivable that his soldiers could act with such cruelty.
In Bucha, Russian troops suffered heavy losses and then went to war against the civilian population. After that, we almost got used to systematic torture and the shelling of residential areas. But the pictures of Butscha were still a turning point. A turning point of terror in this war.
Massacre in Bucha: "So this is death"
Here is the current quiz of the day
The starting question today: When was the first time a woman was appointed to the top of a DAX company?
loser of the day...
... is the traffic light.
Because the Federal Constitutional Court finds that, in principle, a political foundation close to the AfD is also entitled to public funds and demands a legal regulation.
I wrote about it here yesterday.
The traffic light coalition could, indeed should, have presented such a law long ago.
So a law that ensures, for example, that extreme right-wing foundations are not funded by the German Republic.
Now is the time to hurry.
Karlsruhe judgment on the AfD's foundation lawsuit: slap in the face for the traffic light
The latest news from the night
Pentagon publishes pilot's selfie in front of Chinese balloon:
Snapshot at 18 kilometers altitude: The US Department of Defense has released a photo of the Chinese spy balloon over the USA.
It was created in the cockpit of a special aircraft.
German police want to consistently enforce the Z ban on demos:
The authorities are expecting demonstrations in many cities on Friday to mark the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
The forces on site will pay attention to the use of the forbidden Z symbol.
Snow warnings apply even for otherwise sun-drenched areas:
A wide storm band paralyzes entire states of the USA.
Even where it's not snowing, there could be traffic chaos.
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Put down your backpack, take a deep breath, drink tea:
An act of terrorism brought Morocco's popular trekking region around Imlil into disrepute, then Corona came.
Now the highest mountain in the country is waiting for summiteers again.
The tour to the Toubkal is particularly attractive in winter.
I wish you a good start into the day.
Yours sincerely, Sebastian Fischer, head of SPIEGEL's capital city office
