09.09.2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:19 Russia speaks of retaliation for EU visa restrictions +++
A spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry has announced retaliation for the European Union’s visa restrictions. However, the country will not be completely closed to the EU, she says. The interests of Russia and the Russian people come first.
+++ 00:35 Poland buys 96 US attack helicopters +++
To further strengthen its army, Poland plans to procure a larger number of US-made military helicopters. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announces that Warsaw has submitted a request to the US to purchase 96 Apache attack helicopters. In addition to the helicopters, Poland will also receive a technology transfer, he writes on Twitter. He does not provide any further details. According to a report by the Polish agency PAP, the first helicopters are to go to an army unit equipped with Abrams main battle tanks from the USA. Together, the two weapon systems form an “unstoppable force,” Blaszczak said on the sidelines of a meeting of the so-called Ukraine contact group at the US military base in Ramstein, Rhineland-Palatinate.
+++ 23:51 Selenskyj: Have reconquered 1000 square kilometers from the Russians +++
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than 1,000 square kilometers from the Russian invaders since the beginning of September. Selenskyj mentioned this number in his evening video speech. “As part of ongoing defensive operations, our heroes have already liberated dozens of settlements,” he said without further detail. Earlier in the evening, the president confirmed the capture of the district town of Balakliya in the Kharkiv region. He met his military leadership on Thursday in Kyiv for the second time since the beginning of September. In their counter-offensives after half a year of war, the Ukrainians are advancing in the Kharkiv region in the east and in the Cherson region in the south.
+++ 23:06 five billion euros: the EU advises on aid funds and excess profit tax +++
The finance ministers of the European Union will be meeting in Prague on Friday to discuss further support for Ukraine. The two-day informal meeting is about a new aid tranche of five billion euros. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised the government in Kyiv the loans on Wednesday. On the fringes of the meeting of finance ministers, there should also be a so-called excess profit tax for energy companies, which benefit in particular from the massive rise in prices in the Ukraine war.
+++ 22:25 counties are blocking the admission of refugees from Italy – reason: many Ukraine refugees +++
For the time being, the German district association does not want the Federal Ministry of the Interior to agree to the voluntary acceptance of further asylum seekers from Italy and other EU external border states. “Already now, accommodation in gymnasiums and similar makeshift accommodations is already emerging in many districts,” says Reinhard Sager, President of the municipal umbrella organization, after consultations with the Presidium in Neuhardenberg, Brandenburg. The reason is the reception of war refugees from Ukraine and an increase in the number of asylum seekers and refugees from other countries who have to be accommodated. The district council demands that the federal government should cover the accommodation costs for all recognized refugees retrospectively as of January 1 of this year, in addition to the commitments made to accommodate the Ukraine refugees.
+++ 22:06 Labor Minister Heil: Don’t forget who the opponent is +++
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil calls for cohesion in Germany in view of the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine in autumn and winter. In the budget deliberations in the Bundestag, Heil says that it must not be forgotten who the opponent is. “He’s in Moscow, he wants to divide our society, he wants to unsettle us,” Heil said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin uses energy as a weapon. Because of the high energy prices and the resulting burdens, the government has launched relief packages worth almost 100 billion euros. “It’s about keeping an eye on society as a whole and making sure that society isn’t torn apart by Putin’s war,” says Heil. Short-time work will also serve as a bridge in autumn and winter when companies come under pressure. For example, next Wednesday the Federal Cabinet will decide on the announced extension of access to short-time work, which has already been simplified due to the corona pandemic.
+++ 21:52 Reshuffle of the UN Security Council? USA open to reasonable suggestions +++
The US is open to a reshuffle of the UN Security Council. The background to this is a long-standing partial blockade of the most powerful body in the United Nations – particularly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “We should reach a consensus on reasonable and credible proposals for expanding membership in the Security Council,” said US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield in a keynote speech on the future of the United Nations in San Francisco. The US wanted to “advance efforts to reform the UN Security Council.” The UN Security Council consists of 15 countries, but it is dominated by the five permanent members – USA, Russia, China, France and Great Britain – and their veto power. The ten remaining states rotate every two years. The composition of the Council reflects the global balance of power after the Second World War. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, it has been shown again and again how dysfunctional the body is, since a veto power can block any decision. Demands were therefore repeatedly made to exclude Russia – which is in fact not possible.
You can read earlier developments relating to the Ukraine war here.