March 20, 2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 03:31 Putin announces further expansion of the military +++
After his re-election, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would further strengthen the military and security organs. “Of course, today – especially today – strengthening the defense capability and security of the Russian state is particularly important,” said Putin, according to the state news agency Tass, at a meeting with the parliamentary group leaders. Once again he portrayed the Ukraine he attacked as the aggressor and declared that the Russian people would not be intimidated.
+++ 02:26 EU wants tariffs again for certain agricultural products from Ukraine +++
The EU wants to reintroduce tariffs on large quantities of certain agricultural products from Ukraine to support European farmers. Negotiators from the EU states and the European Parliament agreed on this during the night in Brussels. The European Union has tentatively agreed to grant Ukrainian food manufacturers duty-free access to its markets until June 2025, the Belgian EU Council Presidency announced on the short message service X.
+++ 01:20 Russian authorities cordon off villages in Belgorod +++
According to official information, access to several towns in the Russian border region of Belgorod will be limited due to the ongoing shelling. For security reasons, police, national guard, border guard and administrative barriers would be set up in front of six settlements from Wednesday, the governor of Belgorod, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced in the evening. Attempts are being made to convince residents to seek safety. “I have personally convinced myself that a large number of residents remain under attack today. This is of course unacceptable,” he said on his Telegram channel.
+++ 00:07 Masala: Ukraine has to evacuate cities and villages +++
Political scientist Carlo Masala from the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich warns that Ukraine will lose the war against Russia if it cannot recruit new soldiers and does not regularly receive additional ammunition from the West. “Ukraine is currently in a very critical situation that is forcing it to evacuate cities and villages,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND). “The Russians also have big problems. But they have more mass and will prevail if the question of mobilizing new soldiers in Ukraine and the question of a constant flow of ammunition on a substantial scale to Ukraine are not resolved.”
+++ 23:04 Trump: Yes to NATO, if Europeans also pay +++
Former US President Donald Trump made it clear that if he returned to the White House, the US would not leave NATO as long as Europe made its contribution to the military alliance. The Republican is asked about his stance on the defense alliance by presenter and Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage on the right-wing British broadcaster GB News. Farage wants to know whether America will stay in NATO if the other member states “play fairly.” Trump replies: “Yes. 100 percent.” However, European countries are unlikely to take advantage of American support. “The United States should pay its fair share, not everyone else’s.” One should not forget that NATO is more important for Europe than for the USA, because there is an ocean, “a beautiful, big, wonderful ocean” between the USA and “some problems” in Europe.
+++ 22:04 SPD foreign politicians defend Mützenich +++
In the SPD parliamentary group, group leader Rolf Mützenich receives broad support for his statements about a possible end to the war in Ukraine. “We see a trench war. It looks like neither side will win this war,” Ralf Stegner told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “In this situation, Rolf Mützenich asked the question of what we can do in addition to military support for Ukraine to end the war.” The attacks on Mützenich are defamatory. “He didn’t say that Ukraine should cede territory,” said the foreign policy expert. “He didn’t talk about permafrost either.” The foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Nils Schmid, also defends Mützenich. “You do Rolf Mützenich an injustice if you put him in the corner of the outdated and incorrigible pacifist,” said Schmid.
+++ 21:24 Austin: “Putin will not be satisfied with Ukraine” +++
Pentagon chief Austin reiterates at the meeting of Ukraine supporters in Ramstein that spending on Ukraine’s defense is an “investment in our common security.” Addressing the members of the Ukraine Contact Group, he added, referring to the Russian President: “Let’s not kid ourselves. Putin will not be content with Ukraine.”
You can read all previous developments here.