The conflict between Ukraine and Russia remains tense. Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to the inaugural visit as a peace mediator. The news ticker.
- Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD)* travels to Kiev and Moscow on Monday and Tuesday (February 14/15) – it’s about the Ukraine conflict.
- First on Monday afternoon is a meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
- The Ukrainian ambassador again calls for heavy weapons before Scholz’s trip to Kiev (Updated February 14, 6:39 a.m.).
- This news ticker is continuously updated.
Update from February 14, 6:39 a.m: Ukraine again criticizes Germany for not supplying heavy weapons to the country. His government needs 12,000 anti-tank missiles and a thousand anti-aircraft missiles to defend itself against a Russian attack, Andriy Melnyk told the “Bild TV” broadcaster on Sunday evening. Melnyk is the Ambassador of Ukraine in Germany.
Melnyk further said that Scholz’ trip today (see first report) could be “the last chance” for a diplomatic solution in the Ukraine conflict. He reiterated: “We already have the feeling that war is becoming more and more inevitable.”
His government is preparing for the “worst-case scenario”, namely “that the capital could possibly be bombed in the next few days”. When it comes to aircraft and ships, Russia is superior to Ukraine: “We’re really easy prey there” for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Scholz in Ukraine: Habeck warns of “war”
Update from February 13, 9:00 p.m.: Not only Olaf Scholz and government employees (see previous update), but also Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) is concerned about the situation in Ukraine before the Chancellor’s trip to Eastern Europe. “We may be on the brink of war in Europe. With large armies of tanks facing each other. It is absolutely depressing and threatening,” said the Green politician and Federal Minister of Economics in an interview with RTL / ntv. The Greens made similar statements on Friday about the Ukraine crisis.
The fact that Scholz is traveling to Kiev on Monday is extremely good, Habeck added: “It’s the signs that count. We will not leave Ukraine* alone. Through the many conversations you can try to build a bridge that is not necessarily visible at the moment.”
The head of the Christian Democrats in the European Parliament, Manfred Weber (CSU), warns of a domino effect. The Russian President Vladimir Putin must not be successful in the Ukraine conflict, the EPP parliamentary group leader tells the newspapers of the Funke media group: “Otherwise hybrid attacks on the EU and especially on the Baltic States will increase. Ukraine is just another building block in Putin’s strategy.” China and Russia are becoming more and more entangled*. “This will fundamentally challenge the western community of states if we want to secure democracy in the world,” emphasized Weber.
Scholz in Ukraine: Employees share concerns in advance – “Very dangerous situation”
Update from February 13, 7:55 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz is traveling to Ukraine and Russia – the federal government fears that the situation in the Ukraine conflict will worsen significantly. “We consider it a very critical, a very dangerous situation,” said government circles in Berlin on Sunday. Assessments by US intelligence services that a Russian attack could be imminent in the coming days have also increased fears of a military escalation in Berlin.
A government representative in Berlin emphasized that US intelligence sources are not 100% certain that an attack by Russia will actually take place in the coming days. All they said was that there was “a very worrying indication that this might be the case”. In any case, it is important that there is de-escalation. “So many highly armed soldiers on a state border combined with extensive flight and maneuvering activities – that is in itself a destabilizing situation that can get out of control.”
Scholz will therefore make it clear to Putin again that an attack on Ukraine “will have serious consequences, will result in serious sanctions,” it said. At the same time, the chancellor not only wanted to declare his willingness to engage in dialogue, but also to make it clear “that we are pushing for it” in order to defuse the situation through talks.
Scholz in Ukraine and Russia: Chancellor assures Kiev support
preliminary report: Kiev/Moscow – The situation in the Ukraine conflict* is heading for a climax: the United States fears that Russian troops could invade in the coming days. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is to mediate again and is therefore traveling to Kiev and Moscow.
In purely formal terms, there will be two more inaugural visits during which the new Federal Chancellor will introduce himself to the two capitals. But the content is about peace or war. “In both cases, it’s about exploring how we can secure peace in Europe,” said Scholz on Sunday.
On Monday (February 14) Olaf Scholz will be received by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev. In addition to the symbolic sign of support, the visit should also be about further aid measures from Germany. On Sunday, the German government already pledged to support Ukraine with further armaments and economic aid. “Ukraine can be sure that we will show the necessary solidarity, as we have in the past.” Of all the countries, Germany has supported Ukraine the most with economic aid. “And we will keep it that way,” promised Scholz.
Ukraine crisis: Scholz should prevent Putin from invading
On Tuesday, the chancellor travels to Moscow – for what is probably the most delicate talk of his term. Before that, however, Scholz will make a stopover in Berlin: probably so that it doesn’t look like he’s coming to Moscow as Kiev’s envoy. For the conversation, Scholz is said to have even got advice from his predecessor Merkel*. The extent to which the chancellor can threaten the Russian president with sanctions is questionable, however: for this he would need the support of the EU.
For the day after the talks between Scholz and Putin, the US government predicted a possible attack by Russia *. Scholz could thus be the last Western representative who could stop Putin from invading. Out of concern for a war, numerous states have already asked their citizens to leave Ukraine – including Germany.
While Russia is holding major military maneuvers in Belarus, the US has added 3,000 more troops to Poland. So far, however, diplomatic negotiations with Russia have not been able to achieve any major breakthroughs: Nine-hour negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Berlin mediated by Germany and France on Thursday (February 10) did not bring any tangible results. (sf/dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from Ippen.Media.
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