March 11, 2024
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:50 Orban: Trump is a “man of peace” who can end the war +++
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban praises former US President Donald Trump effusively. As “Kyiv Independent” reports, citing Hungarian media, Orban declared after a meeting with Trump in Florida: “We know from Trump’s presidency that he is a man of peace.” Orban continued on Hungarian television: “And he makes no secret of his views, he has made it clear that his goal is to bring peace to the Russian-Ukrainian war. We want nothing less than peace, a ceasefire as quickly as possible. We want an end to this war as quickly as possible, which is slowly coming to an end. I see no one other than Donald Trump who has the determination and the strength to do that.”
+++ 05:58 Zelensky announces expansion of air defense +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praises the air defense soldiers “who defend our skies day and night.” “In total, the Russian terrorists have already used 175 of these killer drones against Ukraine since the beginning of March; fortunately, 151 of them were shot down by our soldiers.” Nevertheless, there are victims among the civilian population. At the same time, Zelensky announced the further expansion of firepower and Ukrainian air defense. “More air defense systems and other means of defending against Russian aircraft mean more peace,” he says.
+++ 05:19 Documentary about besieged Mariupol wins Oscar +++
The work “20 Days in Mariupol” wins the Oscar for best documentary film. The film by Mstyslaw Chernow, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath documents the experiences of AP journalists during around three weeks in the Ukrainian port city when it was besieged by Russian forces in early 2022. At great risk, they show the catastrophic consequences of the siege for the civilian population. The documentary has already received numerous awards. “I can’t change history,” Chernov said in his acceptance speech. “I cannot change the past. But all of us together…among you some of the most talented people in the world, we can ensure that history is recorded correctly and that the truth prevails and that the people of Mariupol and those who who sacrificed their lives will never be forgotten.”
+++ 04:20 Union and traffic light politicians insist on clarification of the Taurus wiretapping scandal +++
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is coming under increasing pressure to clear up the Taurus wiretapping scandal. At a special meeting of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, members of the opposition CDU/CSU parliamentary group, as well as the traffic light parties, expect the minister to provide information on numerous outstanding questions. “The special session must shed light on the contradiction of the statements made by the Federal Chancellor and the Air Force inspector on the conditions for Taurus deliveries to Ukraine,” says Henning Otte, deputy chairman of the Defense Committee, to “Spiegel”. Florian Hahn, defense policy spokesman for the Union, emphasizes: “I expect clarification about the flow of information and the decision-making process between the Air Force, Pistorius and the Chancellor.”
+++ 03:27 Defense Committee discusses intercepted Taurus conversation +++
The Defense Committee of the Bundestag is holding a special meeting to discuss the intercepted conversation between Air Force officers about a possible Taurus delivery to Ukraine. Defense Minister Pistorius is also expected to take part in the meeting. He had spoken of an “individual application error” by a participant in the video conference. The meeting is also likely to focus on the question of the Taurus delivery itself, which Chancellor Scholz has so far blocked. In the intercepted conversation, participants contradicted Scholz’s argument that German soldiers had to be involved in Taurus missions through Ukraine.
+++ 02:23 Zelenskyj wants to welcome Macron to Ukraine soon +++
Ukrainian President Zelensky is expecting his French counterpart Macron to visit Ukraine soon. Zelensky explained this after a phone call in which he thanked Macron for his support. They also talked about the current situation on the battlefield.
+++ 01:03 Europe’s arms imports almost doubled in five years +++
According to a study, Europe’s arms imports have almost doubled in the past five years, which is also due to the war in Ukraine. According to a report by the International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm (SIPRI), arms shipments to Europe will increase by 94 percent between 2019 and 2023 compared to the previous five years, while global arms trade overall will decline slightly. At the same time, arms exports from Russia halved during this period. Russia has also recently found fewer buyers: in 2019, 31 countries will buy weapons from Russia – in 2023 there will only be twelve countries.
+++ 23:40 Hofreiter remains open to the Union’s Taurus proposal +++
The Green Party politician Anton Hofreiter does not rule out voting this time in favor of a proposal from the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag to supply Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. “I haven’t decided yet,” Hofreiter told the news portal The Pioneer. The Union wants to submit another application on Thursday calling on the federal government to hand over the extensive weapons system to Ukraine “immediately”. There are signs that this motion could also be supported by other politicians in the traffic light coalition. The FDP defense politician Agnes Strack-Zimmermann has already announced her approval – similar to a similar Union proposal two weeks ago.
+++ 22:20 Partisans: Russia transfers ship repairs from Crimea +++
The Ukrainian attacks on military targets in Crimea are said to have caused Russia to transfer the repair of its military ships from the occupied peninsula to Russia. Russian ship engines are regularly transported from Crimea to Russia, writes the partisan movement Atesh. In recent months, Ukrainian attacks on the Russian Black Sea Fleet have increased. Moscow then moved numerous military ships from the naval base in Sevastopol in Crimea to the Russian port city of Novorossiysk, further east.
+++ 21:59 Zelenskyj reacts to the Pope’s appeal with sharp words +++
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj sharply rejects a misleading appeal from Pope Francis for peace negotiations with Russia. The church is with the people, says Zelensky. “And not two and a half thousand kilometers away, somewhere, to virtually mediate between someone who wants to live and someone who wants to destroy you.” He continues: “When Russian evil began this war on February 24, all Ukrainians stood up to defend themselves. Christians, Muslims, Jews – everyone.” And he thanks every Ukrainian clergyman who is in the army, in the Defense Forces. They are on the front line, they protect life and humanity, they support with prayers, conversations and actions. “That’s what the church is – with the people.”
You can read all previous developments here.