The chancellor in front of a tank: Scholz visits a military training area on the Baltic Sea and confirms further arms aid for Ukraine. News ticker on war diplomacy.
- Zaporizhia again power grid connected: Apparently, an IAEA mission will be on site soon.
- Chancellor Scholz visited military training area: Photo with Cheetah tank.
- Russia’s war of aggression: Scholz pays respect to soldiers from Ukraine.
- This News ticker on diplomatic developments in the Ukraine war is constantly updated.
Update from August 26, 5:20 p.m.: In view of the energy crisis resulting from the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Czech EU Presidency has announced an emergency meeting of energy ministers. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said in the short message service Twitter that specific emergency measures to deal with the energy situation should be discussed at the meeting. The meeting should take place “at the earliest possible time”, demanded the Czech Industry and Trade Minister Jozef Sikela. “We are in an energy war with Russia and this is hurting the entire EU,” he wrote on Twitter.
Update from August 26, 5 p.m: Can Germany play a mediating role in the Ukraine war? The outgoing Ambassador Andriy Melnyk brought former Chancellor Angela Merkel into play. The diplomat is hoping for a “certain role” for Merkel if “Putin is looking for an exit strategy”.
Ukraine-News: Russia flares off gas destined for Nord Stream 1
Update from August 26, 3:20 p.m.: According to a report by the British BBC broadcaster, Russia is burning huge amounts of natural gas near the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline, which is hardly filled at the moment. The flame at the Portovaya compressor station northwest of Saint Petersburg can be seen as far as neighboring Finland and is clearly visible on satellite images. It is said to be gas that was intended for export to Germany but cannot be discharged elsewhere at the moment due to the lower utilization of the pipeline.
Flaring isn’t uncommon, though. However, experts were amazed at the amount. According to the BBC report, the industry service RystadEnergy assumes that 4.34 million cubic meters of gas go up in smoke there every day – that corresponds to a value of around ten million euros a day. Germany’s ambassador in London, Miguel Berger, told the BBC the flaring shows that reducing the share of Russian gas in German consumption from over 50 percent to now around 10 percent is having an impact and is having a strong impact on the Russian economy. He added: “Because they have nowhere else to sell their gas, they have to burn it.”
In Germany, given the slump in delivery volumes, the gas levy is a controversial issue: SPD Secretary General Kevin Kühnert accused Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) of deception.
Zaporizhia reconnected to power grid – Moscow expects IAEA visit soon
Update from August 26, 2:45 p.m.: According to the operating company Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear power plant Zaporizhia, which was occupied by Russian troops, has been connected to the power grid again. The company announced that one of the reactor blocks that had been stopped the day before was back online. According to the operator, the nuclear power plant was completely disconnected from the Ukrainian power grid on Thursday (25 August) as a result of fires, which had raised fears of an impending nuclear catastrophe.
Meanwhile, the Russian side announced that they were expecting international experts to visit the site soon. “Preparations for a visit” by the expert mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the nuclear power plant are underway, emphasized the Russian representative at the international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov. The Ukrainian Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko had previously urged the experts to visit the country as soon as possible. He also called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the nuclear power plant site.
Ukraine-News: SPD politicians call for “ceasefire” and “comprehensive peace negotiations”
Update from August 26, 12:20 p.m.: A group of SPD politicians are pushing for a diplomatic offensive to end the war in Ukraine quickly. “We need a ceasefire as soon as possible as a starting point for comprehensive peace negotiations,” says the appeal entitled “The guns must be silent!”, which was first discussed by the mirror had reported.
An improvement in the relationship is only possible in the era after Vladimir Putin. Ukraine’s right to self-defense is also recognized. At the same time, however, “a modus vivendi must be found with the Russian government that rules out a further escalation of the war, based on the acknowledgment of realities that one does not like,” the parties demand.
In the call for an end to the Ukraine war, you also advocate China’s role as a mediator and warn against deliveries of heavy war equipment to Ukraine. Instead, there should be a new attempt at “a global policy of detente”. The signatories include the members of the Bundestag Jan Dieren, Rainer Keller, Tina Rudolph, Carolin Wagner and Jens Peick, the MEPs Dietmar Köster, Constanze Krehl and Joachim Schuster, several members of the state parliament, Bremen’s former mayor Carsten Sieling, Bremen’s SPD state chairman Reinhold Wetjen and Dortmund’s mayor Thomas Westphal.
CDU politician Norbert Röttgen and Green Party politician Sara Nanni expressed their dismay. “While demands for peace negotiations are being made in the SPD, Putin continues to mobilize soldiers and material to wipe out Ukraine,” Röttgen wrote on Twitter. “How much can you hide reality?” Nanni asked in the short message service
Ukraine-News: German ambassador worried about support – “could disappear in winter”
Update from August 26, 10:45 am: Germany’s ambassador to Britain fears political support for Ukraine could wane over the winter. According to Miguel Berger, this is linked to the energy crisis in Europe. “I think it’s the same challenge here in the UK, in France, across Europe,” Berger told the British newspaper The Guardians. By using “gas as a weapon” and putting “pressure on our societies”, the Russian ruler Vladimir Putin wants to test “our determination”.
According to the German diplomat, relief packages from European governments are important at this point. For example, the federal government started early on with measures such as grants to companies and direct payments to householders. Still, there is a “risk” that support for Kyiv could wane, Berger said.
Ukraine-News: Zelenskyy speaks with Biden – “unwavering support”
Update from August 25, 8:05 p.m.: Six months after the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, US President Joe Biden has pledged further support to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Biden wrote on Twitter Thursday that he spoke to Zelenskyy on the phone and made it clear “that the United States will continue to support Ukraine and her people in the fight to defend their sovereignty.”
Zelenskyj spoke on Twitter of a great conversation and thanked the USA for their “unwavering support”. The two spoke about further steps in the fight against Russia and how important it is to hold Russia accountable for war crimes, the Ukrainian president continued.
Update from August 25, 6:02 p.m.: In Latvia, the Soviet victory monument in the capital Riga has been razed to the ground. On the instructions of the city authorities, two excavators brought down the 79-meter-high obelisk with the Soviet star on top on Thursday.
In Latvia, all objects that glorify totalitarian regimes must be dismantled by November 15, following a parliamentary decision taken in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The regulation specifically targets the demolition of the Soviet Victory Monument. “This memorial was a constant reminder of our occupation, the fate of many people associated with it – deportations, repressions and so on. We don’t need such a memorial,” said President Egils Levits on Latvian television, which broadcast the demolition live.
Latvia was alternately occupied by Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II. After the end of the war, the Baltic state was an involuntary part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Russia protested sharply against the dismantling of the monument.
Scholz visits soldiers from Ukraine and poses on Cheetah tanks: “Efficient and effective”
First report:
Kyiv/Putlos – Germany also supplies the Kyiv with weapons during the Ukraine war. This includes the cheetah tank. The training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Gepard anti-aircraft gun tank lasts six weeks before they go to war. The Putlos military training area is located in Schleswig-Holstein.
Chancellor Scholz visits the military training area: photo with a cheetah tank
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has now visited them during tank training in Germany – and promised Ukraine further military support in the Russian war of aggression. Scholz also inspected one of the Gepard tanks himself and had his picture taken on it. During the visit, Scholz also spoke to the industrial trainers from the manufacturing company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann.
What is the anti-aircraft gun tank Gepard?
The cheetah is no longer used by the German armed forces. According to the Bundeswehr, it was primarily developed to protect the Panzer and Panzergrenadier troops from attacking aircraft and helicopters at low altitudes. The cheetah is also suitable for stationary protection against attacks from the air, for example from bridges or buildings.
Russia’s war of aggression: Scholz pays respect to soldiers from Ukraine
According to the government, the training is part of the German-financed delivery of 30 Gepard tanks to Ukraine. They are part of the heavy weapons that the traffic light coalition had not wanted to deliver for a long time. This line was corrected under the impression of the Russian attacks.
During his visit, Scholz expressed his “admiration” for the “courage” of the Ukrainian soldiers. He thanked the Bundeswehr for their commitment to tank training. He was also impressed by the capabilities of the Gepard tank. He saw “how efficient and effective he is when it comes to organizing defense against air attacks”.
German arms deliveries to Ukraine: Scholz promises Selenskyj more
On August 24, Scholz promised Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj more arms deliveries worth more than 500 million euros. Among other things, it is about three additional air defense systems of the type Iris-T, a dozen armored recovery vehicles, 20 rocket launchers mounted on pick-up vehicles, as well as anti-drone devices and precision ammunition. (AFP/dpa/frs)
#Putins #Zoff #Germany #Russia #apparently #burns #gas #million #euros #day