06/20/2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 02:11 Austria reactivates coal power plant +++
In view of reduced Russian gas supplies, Austria will reactivate a coal-fired power plant that has been shut down. The authorities and the largest Austrian electricity producer, the Verbund Group, are working on preparing the power plant in Mellach in southern Austria for operation with coal again, the Federal Chancellery announced. The crisis cabinet of the conservative-green federal government had previously met under Chancellor Karl Nehammer. The Mellach power plant, located near Graz in Styria, was the last coal-fired power plant in Austria to be taken off the grid in spring 2020.
+++ 00:07 Kuleba: The end of arms deliveries would not force Ukraine to the negotiating table +++
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told Anne Will that Ukraine would continue the fight against Russia even if Western arms supplies ended. “If we are not given weapons, fine, then we will fight with shovels, but we will defend ourselves because this war is a war for our existence”. No one in the West should believe that Ukraine would be more willing to make concessions without arms deliveries, emphasizes Kuleba.
+++ 23:00 CDU politicians: Our freedom is being defended in Ukraine +++
The CDU defense politician Johann Wadephul says in “Anne Will” that Germany’s freedom is also being defended in Ukraine. When asked by the moderator whether the solidarity and understanding of the Germans for supporting Ukraine will last for years, Wadephul says he hopes so. Addressing the SPD politician Michael Müller, he adds: “Peter Struck, your former colleague who has sadly passed away The leader of the parliamentary group once said that our freedom and security is being defended in the Hindu Kush. Today this is happening in Ukraine. That’s the way it is and we have to explain it to the people.”
+++ 22:27 Kuleba calls Scholz “accommodating” +++
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is also on “Anne Will”. He says that Ukraine has had “open but also discreet discussions” about arms deliveries to Germany. “We think that Germany can do more, we hope that Germany will do more”, but it is up to the federal government to make this decision, also with a view to Germany’s defense capabilities. Chancellor Scholz was “very accommodating” in the talks with Ukraine “on the question of cooperation in the defense report”, more accommodating than in previous talks. Kuleba rejects the notion that arms shipments fuel war. “The later you send us the weapons, the more weapons will die before then,” says the foreign minister.
+++ 22:05 Von der Leyen confident about Ukraine’s candidate status +++
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen emphasizes that Ukraine’s accession to the European Union is not a sure-fire success. In 1999, both Turkey and Slovakia were given the prospect of joining the EU, says von der Leyen on the program “Anne Will”, with a view to the current applications from Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia. Slovakia made “enormous efforts” and became a member of the European Union in 2004. “We see that Turkey is still further away from us today than it was then. That means it really depends on the candidate country how determined it is to go down this path to the European Union.”
At the same time, she is optimistic that Ukraine will receive candidate status at the EU summit next Thursday. “The preparations are good, the course has been set and I’m confident.”
+++ 21:40 Ukrainian army: Russia is preparing the offensive on Sloviansk +++
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army, Russia is preparing an offensive against the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk region. Furthermore, Russian troops are also attacking the administrative center of Sieverodonetsk in the Luhansk region in order to gain complete control of the city. According to the General Staff, these efforts have so far been unsuccessful Facebook. Ukrainian troops repelled a Russian offensive near Berestowe in the Donetsk district.
+++ 21:00 vodka “Zelenskyj’s tears” in a Moscow supermarket +++
A vodka called “Zelenskyj’s Tears” is apparently sold in Moscow supermarkets. That comes from a tweet by Matthew Luxmoore, the Moscow reporter for the Wall Street Journal, who according to his Twitter profile is currently in Ukraine. “The Russian invaders pride themselves on their genocidal cruelty,” comments columnist and Russia expert Julia Davis.
You can read earlier developments of the Ukraine war here.