02/09/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:13 SPD leader Klingbeil promotes diplomatic initiatives +++
Almost a year after the Russian attack on Ukraine, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil is pushing for diplomatic initiatives to end the war. “It annoys me how the term diplomacy is often almost despised in the political debate,” Klingbeil told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “For me, military strength and diplomacy are two sides of the same coin.” Germany is out of the question as a mediator because it is “unreservedly” on the side of Ukraine. “We have to get away from the fact that the debates about arms deliveries are overturning.” There is dwindling acceptance among the German population when battle tanks are discussed immediately after armored personnel carriers and immediately afterwards about fighter jets. The Chancellor’s “clear statement” applies: “There will be no fighter jets.”
+++ 23:44 leader of the Left Group calls for a change of course in Ukraine politics +++
Left parliamentary group leader Amira Mohamed Ali calls on Chancellor Scholz to change course in Ukraine policy. She says serious efforts for peace are needed at last. The top priority must be for the war to end as quickly as possible. “The guns must finally be silent.” Instead, sanctions and arms deliveries will be discussed at the EU summit. The first sanctions packages announced that they would ruin Russia economically. But this did not happen, says Mohamed Ali. Nor would the sanctions affect Russia’s ability to wage war. The fact is, however, that the sanctions policy is having devastating effects on economic stability in Germany, in Europe and in the countries of the Global South.
+++ 22:10 The first pictures show Scholz and Macron in Paris and Selenskyj on the way to them +++
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has already been received by Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as pictures from French television stations show. The Ukrainian President is also now landed in Paris and on the way to the Élysée Palace.
+++ 21:35 Portugal wants to deliver some Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine in March +++
Portugal will repair some of its Leopard 2 tanks and deliver three of them to Ukraine in March, according to Prime Minister Antonio Costa. He recently said that Portugal is in talks with Germany to procure parts needed to repair unserviceable Leopard tanks. The armed forces said in January that Portugal had 37 Leopard 2 tanks. According to media reports, most of them are not operational.
+++ 21:03 Stoltenberg: Already around 120 billion US dollars in support for Ukraine +++
According to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO member states have so far mobilized around 120 billion US dollars (around 112 billion euros) in support for Ukraine. The Norwegian said at a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington that it was military, humanitarian and financial aid. Since the start of the Russian war of aggression almost a year ago, the 30 allies have provided Ukraine with unprecedented support. Regarding the different amounts of support provided by the individual states of the western alliance, Stoltenberg says that the USA, as the largest ally, plays an indispensable role. The European allies and Canada have also increased their aid. Together they now provide more than half of the total support.
+++ 20:33 Pink Floyd founder Waters before the UN Security Council: end the war +++
Pink Floyd founding member Roger Waters has called for peace in Ukraine before the UN Security Council. “President Biden, President Putin, President Zelenskyy, USA, NATO, Russia – all of you – please change your course now and agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine immediately,” the 79-year-old musician said in a video address before the most powerful body of the United Nations in New York. Russia had invited the British to the meeting – presumably because he had previously been critical of arms deliveries to Ukraine. In his speech, Waters strongly condemned Russia’s “illegal” invasion of Ukraine, but also criticized the West: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine was not unprovoked. That’s why I also condemn the provocateurs in the strongest possible terms.”
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.