AForeign Minister Annalena Baerbock is calling on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s borders. The first signs of this are a “glimmer of hope”, but now action is needed, said the Green politician on Friday at the Munich Security Conference. War is threatening in the middle of Europe. “Russia is making an absolutely unacceptable threat with its troop deployment. Opposite Ukraine. But also towards all of us – and our peace architecture in Europe,” said Baerbock. “This crisis is therefore not a Ukraine crisis. It is a Russia crisis.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling on everyone involved to de-escalate. There is no alternative to diplomacy, he said on Friday at the start of the Munich Security Conference. The nuclear power Russia, meanwhile, announced a maneuver using ballistic missiles. According to the Defense Ministry, the exercise this Saturday is led by President Vladimir Putin. The aim is to test the strategic nuclear weapons for their reliability. The world’s most important expert meeting on security policy will continue on the same day.
“I call on all parties to be extremely careful with their rhetoric. Public statements should aim to reduce tensions, not fuel them,” Guterres said. He also pointed out the danger of an incalculable escalation. This can also be triggered by communication breakdowns and false assumptions. Guterres said: “I am often asked if we are in a new Cold War. My answer is that the threat to global security is now more complex and arguably greater than it was then.”
“Not a Ukraine Crisis, a Russia Crisis”
He is deeply concerned about the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and increasing speculation about a military conflict. Guterres: “I still think it won’t happen. But if it happened, it would be a disaster.” Moscow has been vehemently rejecting plans to attack the neighboring country for weeks.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) continues to rule out arms deliveries to Ukraine. There is currently “no reason” to change the arms export regulations, Scholz said on Friday after the EU-Africa summit in Brussels. “Now would be exactly the wrong time,” he emphasized. At the same time, he warned against a naive assessment of the situation and called the recent Russian military maneuvers a “dramatic reality”.
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The situation remained tense in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. The insurgents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions said that since midnight several dozen shells had been fired on their territory. Compared to the lecture, the shelling had been significantly intensified – despite an applicable ceasefire. The Ukrainian army also spoke of almost three dozen violations. This information could not be independently verified. It was also not initially known whether there were any victims in the new attacks. The sides blame each other for the violence.
Should residents leave the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic?
The separatists are calling on residents to go to Russia. This was announced by the head of the separatists, Denis Puschilin. It had been agreed with Russia that shelters were prepared for the people. First, women, children and the elderly should be brought to Russia. There is initially no official Russian confirmation of the project.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was “very concerned” about the increased shelling. Weapons that are banned under the Minsk peace plan are being used, he said. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also noted increased violations of the agreed ceasefire.
Foreign Minister Annanlena Baerbock in Munich
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Image: Reuters
Warning of refugee movement in Europe
In view of the tense situation, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned of a new refugee movement in Europe. “If Russia invades Ukraine, Poland could see tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians and others pouring across its border trying to save themselves and their families from the horrors of war,” Austin said in Warsaw after a meeting with Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
Austin wanted to call his Russian colleague Sergei Shoigu on Friday. The West is worried about many Russian maneuvers. There is no reason for that, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax agency in Moscow. A number of exercises are currently underway “that are absolutely transparent for specialists from other countries”. Several exercises have already been completed.
Biden wants to speak to allies
This Saturday, the Russian army, under Putin’s supervision, also wants to fire ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is also present. Both countries are holding large-scale maneuvers in southern Belarus on the border with Ukraine until next Sunday. Russia tests missiles several times a year. The country and the US are by far the two largest nuclear powers in the world.
US President Joe Biden wanted to talk to allies on Friday about how to proceed in the Ukraine crisis. In addition to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, leading politicians from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and Romania are to take part in the talks, Trudeau’s office said. The European Union and NATO are also represented.