"General taboo has fallen": Habeck wants to allow arms exports beyond Ukraine "more selectively" in the future

The Kremlin criticizes Macron and Scholz, while Ukraine appears to be receiving more arms supplies.

News ticker on diplomacy in the Ukraine war.

• Allegations against

  Macron

  and

  Scholz

  : Kremlin criticizes the lack of calls

• Special tribunal

  in the

  Ukraine war

  : Volodymyr Zelenskyj denounces Russian crimes

• Talks

  with

  the International Criminal Court

  : Selenskyj exchanges views with Khan on the Ukraine war

Update from March 2, 8:38 a.m

.: Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock addressed Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov directly at the G20 meeting in New Delhi.

Baerbock stated "It is good that you are here in the room to listen".

Their unequivocal demand towards Russia: “Stop this war.

Stop violating our international order.

Stop bombing Ukrainian cities and civilians”.

Baerbock urged Lavrov that an end to the war must happen "not in a month or a year, but today."

Habeck wants to allow arms exports beyond Ukraine “more selectively” in the future

Update from March 2nd, 7:00 a.m.:

According to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), Germany wants to allow arms exports to be much more “selective” in the future.

The Vice Chancellor announced on Thursday (March 2) in Wirtschaftswoche that arms exports should be approved “value-based

.

It must be asked "who is the perpetrator and who is the victim".

"With regard to Ukraine, I think it's right that the blanket taboo on arms deliveries to war zones has been lifted," explained Habeck.

"In terms of general political practice, this can only mean that when it comes to our export permits, we must ask ourselves in future who is the perpetrator and who is the victim, aggressor and defender - and make decisions accordingly."

Germany should supply countries with weapons "that are close to us in terms of value, that are our partners," the minister said.

"And be rather reserved towards dictatorships."

Ukraine can count on additional ammunition

Update from March 1, 6:31 p.m .:

The EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell proposes an “extraordinary aid package of one billion euros” to the member states, with which 155 millimeter caliber guns are to be delivered for the Ukraine war, as stated in a paper means that the news agency AFP is available.

The EU countries should therefore hand over the guns from their own stocks to Ukraine.

In a second step, Europe's warehouses are to be replenished through a joint order.

The caliber 155 millimeters corresponds to the NATO standard for artillery.

Such guns are used, among other things, in the Panzerhaubitze 2000, which Germany has supplied to the Ukraine.

The delivery of ammunition to Kiev is "urgent," according to Borrell's presentation for the informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Stockholm next week.

The supplying EU countries are to be compensated from the so-called peace facility.

So far, the member states have delivered weapons worth 3.6 billion euros to Ukraine from outside the EU budget.

Including the ammunition, it would then be 4.6 billion euros.

Scholz: "In the event of an attack, we will defend every square centimeter of NATO territory together"

Update from March 1, 4:35 p.m.:

For Latvia, Germany's help is crucial to Ukraine's survival in the Russian war of aggression.

"From a Latvian perspective, Germany's support is key to Ukraine's survival," said Latvia's Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš after talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.

"The chance we have is perseverance." Putin will not give up so easily.

Chancellor Scholz affirmed that he would protect NATO territory.

"As allies, we agree: In the event of an attack, we will defend every square centimeter of NATO territory together," said the SPD politician.

This is an important message for the Baltic States.

“Putin did not expect this decisive reaction when he gave the order to invade Ukraine.

That surprised and irritated him," added the Chancellor, emphasizing that

Ukraine-News: Finnish Parliament approves NATO membership

Update from March 1, 1:35 p.m

.: The path from Finland to NATO is clear – at least from the Finnish side.

The parliament in Helsinki has now voted with a large majority for a corresponding legislative proposal.

However, ratification by Turkey with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and by Hungary with President Viktor Orbán is still missing for the accession of the Finns.

Finland shares a 1340 km border with Russia.

In view of the Ukraine war, the EU country, like Sweden, applied for NATO membership in May 2022.

NATO enlargement: The growing defense alliance

NATO enlargement: The growing defense alliance

Ukraine-News: Lukashenko invokes good relations with Xi in China

Update from March 1, 12:57 p.m .

: Alexander Lukashenko met Xi Jinping in Beijing and assured him of his full support for the Chinese position paper on the Ukraine war.

In addition, the Belarusian ruler, when meeting his Chinese counterpart, swears by the good relations between his country and China.

"They should first and foremost aim to prevent a slide into a global confrontation that will see no winners," Lukashenko told Xi.

Beijing's 12-point plan is highly controversial in the West.

Lukashenko is a close ally of Putin;

his country is financially and politically dependent on neighboring Russia.

Ukraine-News: Stoltenberg invites Selenskyj to NATO summit

Update from March 1, 12:35 p.m

.: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has invited Volodymyr Zelenskyj to the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.

This is reported by the

, citing an interview by Stoltenberg this Wednesday (March 1).

Allegations against Macron and Scholz: Kremlin criticizes the lack of calls

Update from March 1st, 7:53 a.m .

: The Kremlin has expressed criticism that neither Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) nor French President Emmanuel Macron have recently contacted Vladimir Putin.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov said, “We heard many statements from Scholz and Macron saying they would continue to talk to Putin to find ways out of the situation.

However, there have been no initiatives recently."

Macron has declared his willingness to hold talks five or six times, but according to Peskow there have been no inquiries.

Special tribunal in the Ukraine war: Volodymyr Zelenskyj denounces Russian crimes

First report from March 1st, 8:12 a.m

.: An action by the International Criminal Court, for example against Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, is currently not possible, among other things, because neither Russia nor Ukraine are contractual partners of the Rome Statute as the legal basis for this court.

Kiev is campaigning for international support for a special tribunal.

A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia

A Year of Ukraine War: The Origins of the Conflict with Russia

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has now emphatically spoken out in favor of a criminal investigation of the Russian war of aggression against his country at international level.

"We will smash this entire Russian genocidal system - from the cogs to the architects - and bring it to justice," Zelenskyy said in his recent video address.

This is not an easy task.

However, if the "Russian crimes" were punished by an international court within the framework of the rule of law, this would guarantee security for Ukrainians and other peoples in the long term.

Talks with the International Criminal Court: Selenskyj exchanges views with Khan

The Russian attack on Ukraine will inevitably have legal ramifications for everyone who conceived, approved and implemented such a policy, Zelenskyy said.

"And I would like to emphasize: It's not just about the executors, but also about the supreme political and military leadership of the terrorist state."

He spoke about this on Tuesday (February 28) in Kiev with chief prosecutor Karim Khan from the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Zelensky said.

Particular attention was paid to the children brought to Russia from the occupied Ukrainian territories.

Kiev describes the process as "violent kidnapping".