Sergey Lavrov accuses the EU and NATO of preparing for war. US Secretary of State Blinken has made it clear that the US will help Ukraine for as long as necessary. The negotiations in the news ticker.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken: USA will help Ukraine for as long as necessary.
- Lavrov with reproach EU and NATO: In his opinion, these were planning a coalition against Russia in preparation for war.
- Russia throws USA plane blockade before: Washington is said to have blocked a plane with Russian diplomats.
- This News ticker on the negotiations in the Ukraine war is regularly updated.
Update from June 24, 6:53 p.m.: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has assured Ukraine that his country will continue to provide military assistance against the Russian attack. “You fight not only for yourself, but for all of us,” said Blinken on Friday in Berlin. Since the beginning of the war, his country has provided Ukraine with defense aid worth around 6.1 billion US dollars (around 5.8 billion euros).
“We will continue this as long as it lasts,” he said. At the same time, the United States is ready to support any diplomatic solution, but Russia has shown no interest in it. He was convinced that the sanctions imposed on Russia would hit the country hard economically, even if some of the effects would be concealed for a while by the leadership in Moscow.
Ukraine-Russia negotiations: EU Commission chief calls on European consumers to save energy
Update from June 24, 5:29 p.m: After the EU summit and in view of the threat of gas bottlenecks, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is once again calling on European consumers to save energy. If you lower the heating temperature across the EU by just two degrees and increase that of air conditioning by two degrees, you could save the entire supplies of the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1, she said. “So there is a lot of potential there.” At the same time von der Leyen confirmed that the sources of energy sources also had to be diversified and that investments had to be made in renewables.
“The best is always: hope for the best, be prepared for the worst. And that’s exactly what we’re doing now,” said von der Leyen. It started at the beginning of the year. Von der Leyen called for national measures not only to be taken that only focus on the domestic market, but also for coordinated action in the EU. It is therefore important to have a detailed overview of the situation in the EU.
Your authority has reviewed all national emergency plans to ensure that everyone is prepared for further delivery restrictions. At the same time, they are working with the industry and the 27 EU countries on a European plan that should reduce gas demand in an emergency.
Lavrov accused the EU and NATO of coalition against Russia in preparation for war
Update from June 24, 1 p.m.: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has claimed that the EU and NATO are creating a coalition in preparation for a war against Russia. He drew a comparison to the Second World War and Hitler. “You know, during World War II, Hitler rallied a significant, if not a large part, of European states under his flag for a war against the Soviet Union,” the Russian state agency quoted as saying mug the Russian Foreign Minister from a press conference in Azerbaijan.
Now the EU and NATO would create a “modern coalition” to fight against Russia. Lavrov said he does not expect the EU’s “Russophobic attitude” to dissipate: “But this is the path the Europeans have chosen.”
Selenskyj criticizes Israel – “also happy to support the government”
Update from June 23, 4:55 p.m.: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly criticized Israel’s stance on Russia. Zelenskyi said in a video address to students at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on Thursday that he found it difficult to understand the attitude of the Israeli government. Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and has family members in Israel, said in his speech that he was very grateful to the people of Israel for the “sincere and moral support of the Ukrainian people”. But Ukraine “would also like support from your (Israel’s, Note d. editor) get government”.
The Israeli government of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett did not impose any sanctions on Russia and also refrained from criticizing the Kremlin. Observers suspect that Bennett did not want to jeopardize relations with Moscow. Although humanitarian and medical aid has been provided, arms deliveries are not an issue in Jerusalem. A position that Selenskyj also criticizes. “How can one refuse to help the victims of such aggression?” asked the President in his speech.
Blocked grain exports from Ukraine – Turkey and Great Britain demand quick solution
Update from June 23, 12:45 p.m.: In the face of Russia’s blockade of grain exports from Ukraine, Turkey and Britain have been pushing for a quick fix. “This grain crisis is urgent and it needs to be resolved within the next month. Otherwise, the consequences could be devastating,” British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told reporters in Ankara after meeting her Turkish counterpart Mevlut Çavusoglu. Russia uses hunger as a weapon.
Turkey and Britain worked closely together to get the grain out of Ukraine. Cavusoglu said the issue needs to be resolved “as soon as possible,” but that some security hurdles still stand in the way. Turkey supports a UN plan for a control center in Istanbul to monitor the passage of ships in and out of a “safe zone” outside Ukrainian waters. According to information from UN security circles, there could be talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey next week – together with UN Secretary General António Guterres.
Ukraine-News: Russia accuses USA of blocking planes – plane with diplomats
Update from June 22, 10:10 p.m.: Russia accuses the United States of blocking a flight carrying expelled Russian diplomats. The Russian plane was supposed to fly out diplomats who were instructed by the US government to leave the United States by the end of the month, the State Department in Moscow said. However, Washington did not allow this. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova therefore threatened unspecified countermeasures on Wednesday. The US State Department did not comment in detail. However, it complained that Russia did not present the situation correctly.
There has long been a dispute between the United States and Russia over diplomatic personnel. Both countries had already expelled diplomats from each other four months before the start of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. After the war began, US airspace was closed to aircraft from Russia. In March, however, a Russian government plane was allowed to pick up expelled diplomats in Washington.
Ukraine-News: EU summit on Thursday – legitimate hopes for Ukraine to join
First report from June 22, 8:00 p.m.: Brussels – In the shadow of the escalating Ukraine conflict, the EU is about to make a potentially historic decision: at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday, the 27 member states will decide on Ukraine’s possible EU candidate status. The country of President Volodymyr Zelenskyj can have legitimate hopes in view of a leaked draft of the summit declaration.
Ukraine hopes for EU candidate status – draft suggests “yes”.
The draft of the summit declaration already anticipates the positive vote following the consultations of the past few days: “The European Council has decided to grant Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova the status of candidate countries,” says the text, which is available to the AFP news agency. A time frame for the lengthy accession process is not mentioned in the draft of the summit declaration. It only says that the member states would decide on “further steps as soon as all conditions are met”.
The much-vaunted turning point is now also reflected in the candidate question: never before has the peace community EU given a country at war the prospect of accession, and at record speed. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy only applied for his country’s admission at the end of February, four days after the Russian attack.
Scholz had already made a commitment last week: “Germany is in favor of a positive decision in favor of Ukraine,” he said during his joint trip to Kyiv with Emmanuel Macron and Mario Draghi. Skeptics like the Netherlands or Denmark then joined. Scholz confirmed on Wednesday (June 22) in his government statement in the Bundestag that he would work towards this. The Chancellor emphasized that this was “Europe’s answer to the turning point” triggered by the Russian war of aggression.
Ukraine wants EU candidate status: corruption, rule of law and other hurdles
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called on Ukraine and Moldova to undertake extensive reforms on Friday. They have an enormous program to tackle before the EU can decide whether to start the actual accession negotiations. Whether it’s the rule of law, democracy or the fight against corruption – the hurdles are high and the process is likely to take years. “Nobody knows whether Ukraine will ever join,” says an experienced EU diplomat.
In addition, Scholz and Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer want to send a clear signal to the Western Balkan countries that their desire to join the country will not be ignored in the wake of the Ukraine war. A summit meeting with Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina is scheduled before the actual EU summit.
EU candidate status for Ukraine: Western Balkans upset
Some Balkan states are frustrated by the lack of progress: Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania briefly threatened to boycott the Brussels summit, but now they want to come anyway.
The summit is overshadowed by the tensions surrounding Kaliningrad: Russia is threatening EU and NATO member Lithuania with massive consequences because it has stopped the rail transport of certain goods, such as metals, to the Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. However, this has been agreed with Brussels as part of the EU sanctions against Russia.
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