01/21/2023
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 01:36 Ukrainian President’s wife expects more effort on peace plan +++
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska is calling on Ukraine’s western allies to do more to implement a ten-point peace plan. Every country plays a role for which it must also take responsibility, Selenska said in an interview with the Swiss daily Neue Züricher Zeitung at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The peace plan, announced by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G20 summit in November, also includes calls for ensuring food and energy security and mechanisms to prevent the conflict escalating in the Euro-Atlantic area. “It also includes legal demands, such as an international war crimes tribunal and the return of prisoners of war to Ukraine,” Selenska explains to the newspaper.
+++ 00:10 G7 want to check price cap for Russian oil in March +++
The G7 countries plan to review the price cap for Russian oil in March. This was announced by US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. At the beginning of December, the G7 and Australia, like the European Union, set a price limit of 60 dollars per barrel for Russian oil transported by sea. The price cap is intended to reduce Russia’s income from oil sales.
+++ 23:09 Strack-Zimmermann: “Unfortunately, Germany just failed” +++
The chair of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, sharply criticized the postponed German decision on the supply of main battle tanks to Ukraine. “At least a signal would have been right to give the partners the green light,” she says on ZDF. “History is looking at us, and unfortunately Germany just failed,” complained Strack-Zimmermann. The communication, especially from Chancellor Olaf Scholz on this issue, was a “disaster” because on the one hand Germany was giving Ukraine massive support, but the lack of a decision on the battle tanks gave a different impression. Scholz remains guilty of explanations. From their point of view, the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is “on the chain,” said Strack-Zimmermann. However, she is certain that the “Leopard 2” will ultimately be delivered to Ukraine.
+++ 22:18 EU states should finance more weapons for Ukraine +++
A further 500 million euros in EU funds are to be made available for the supply of weapons and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces. According to a senior EU official, the plan is to obtain the necessary approval from member states for the move at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. The official says that an additional 45 million euros is also at stake for the new EU training mission for Ukrainian armed forces. The EU wants to use the additional 500 million euros to finance weapons and equipment for the Ukrainians. So far, 500 million euros have been approved six times – a total of three billion euros.
+++ 21:50 Prigozhin reacts to the latest move by the USA against the Wagner group +++
After the US government announced that Wagner’s Russian private army would be declared a “transnational criminal organization,” Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin spoke out. “Our mutual relations can now be described as a ‘clash between criminal clans’,” Prigozhin announced in the evening. He had recently boasted that Wagner was even buying US weapons despite the sanctions. Putin’s confidant is also wanted by the FBI for meddling in the presidential election in the United States.
+++ 21:23 Kremlin does not want to comment on missile defense systems in Moscow +++
The Kremlin has refused to comment on footage of suspected missile defense systems on Moscow’s rooftops circulating online. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refers to the Defense Ministry when asked if Russia is concerned that Moscow could be the target of an attack. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for the “security of the country in general and the capital in particular,” he told journalists. The ministry has not yet responded to a request from the AFP news agency.
You can read earlier developments in the Ukraine war here.