Ukraine is hoping for a military turnaround – and is also dependent on aid from the West. News ticker on diplomacy in the Ukraine war.
- heavy weapons on Kyiv? Politicians in the traffic light coalition disagree on how to proceed
- Ukraine missing in war money: Exports fall drastically
- Fight to the grain deal: New meeting between Putin and Erdogan
- This News ticker to the state of diplomacy in the Ukraine war is continuously updated.
Update from September 13, 9:54 p.m.: The leadership of Ukraine has worked out a concept for international security guarantees after the end of the Russian war of aggression. The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen presented the paper on Tuesday in Kyiv.
Accordingly, the Ukrainian army should be equipped and trained in such a way that the country can ward off a Russian attack at any time. A group of countries should guarantee Ukraine’s security politically and legally. The following were listed as possible guarantee states: the USA, Great Britain, Canada, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Australia, Turkey and the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic States. Even with the guarantees, Ukraine is still striving to join NATO, it said.
Ukraine News: Security guarantees after the end of the war? Ukraine presents paper
The question of international guarantees played a role above all at the beginning of the six-month war, when both sides were still negotiating an armistice. At that time, there were signals from Kyiv that Ukraine should be given neutral status and renounce NATO membership. At the end of August, Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanischyna, who is responsible for NATO integration, said that the only option for her country was direct membership without a prior accession plan.
Such guarantees would be the “prelude to World War III,” former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev responded to Telegram. They would come close to the obligation to provide assistance under Article 5 of the NATO treaty. If Western countries try to weaken Russia in this way, the deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council threatened that “the earth would burn and the concrete would melt” in their country.
Update from September 13, 5:20 p.m.: According to the Kremlin, the war against Ukraine will be the subject of upcoming talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. “Of course, this issue will be discussed in detail at the forthcoming meeting,” Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov told the news agency interfax according to a press briefing on Tuesday. Ushakov praised China’s position in the conflict as “balanced”.
Putin and Xi are meeting in the Central Asian ex-Soviet republic of Uzbekistan as part of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. The two-day conference will take place in the city of Samarkand. Also expected are India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to Ushakov, Putin wants to talk to Erdogan, among other things, about the implementation of the grain deal. The deal unlocked Ukraine’s seaports, which had been blocked for months, to deliver Ukrainian grain to the world market and ease the food crisis, especially in poor countries. However, the Russian leadership has recently been dissatisfied with the implementation. The grain goes mainly to Europe, criticized Moscow. In addition, promises to ease sanctions on Russia’s fertilizer and food sectors are not being kept.
“Must arrive in their everyday life”: Finland MP Marin insists on a visa ban for Russians
Update from September 13, 12:51 p.m: Against German resistance, Finland insists on an extensive visa ban for Russians. The Finnish head of government, Sanna Marin, said in a speech in the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the sanctions had to “become part of the everyday life of the Russians”.
Since September 1, Russian tourists have generally no longer been able to enter the EU via neighboring Finland. Finland and the Baltic States had nationally restricted the issuing of visas to Russians.
Germany and other EU countries such as Austria and Luxembourg have so far spoken out against an extensive entry ban. The ties with Russia should not be completely severed, they argued. Instead, the EU countries agreed on higher hurdles for issuing Schengen visas.
FDP politician Vogel: Weapons aid to Ukraine now “in a new situation”
Update from September 13, 11:53 am: FDP politician Johannes Vogel also confirmed that Germany more heavy weapons to Ukraine have to deliver. Germany and other allies have already provided these in large numbers. But now you have to support even more: “Because Ukraine has had an impressive momentum on the battlefield in the last few days, and that’s so important because that’s the only way to peace,” Vogel said, according to dpa.
Vogel said that when he looks at “what we have in terms of Marder or Fuchs, tanks and armored vehicles, I think they have to be delivered to Ukraine now”. But Vogel, First Parliamentary Secretary of the FDP parliamentary group, also spoke out in favor of coordinated action in the western alliance.
Kuleba on negotiations with Russia: “Only if our territorial integrity is at stake”
Update from September 13, 10:55 am: Should Russia be classified as a “state sponsor of terrorism”? Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has now rejected counter-arguments from the US government. Kuleba told the Ukrainian news agency RBC, according to the Kyiv Independent Furthermore, Kyiv is open to negotiations with Moscow – but only if they are about the “complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity”.
Update from September 13, 10:17 am: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has acknowledged significant progress in Ukraine’s counteroffensive – “particularly in the Northeast”. Among other things, the success is due to the support of the United States and many other countries, for example through the equipment provided, said Blinken on Monday (September 12) at a press conference in Mexico.
It is still too early to say how the situation will develop, Blinken added. “Russia committed this aggression. I think given the price it’s paying for it, it can and should stop doing it,” Blinken said, citing rising energy and food prices.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive: Kyiv needs money – traffic light debates tanks
First report from September 13th: Kyiv/Berlin – Ukraine’s counter-offensive puts Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s military under pressure, and the course of the front is shifting. It is clear to observers that this is also an effect of the arms deliveries from the West to Kyiv. Is Germany doing enough on the issue? The SPD continues to focus on warnings against “going it alone”.
Heavy weapons to Kyiv? Politicians in the traffic light coalition disagree on how to proceed
Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) called for additional support, but without naming specific war equipment. The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann did this: the German Leopard 2 main battle tank and Marder infantry fighting vehicle requested by the Ukrainian government with President Volodymyr Zelenskyj should be included. The head of the Greens, Omid Nouripour, also found in the ARD daily topics that “more would be possible”. So far, Germany’s delivery list includes:
- the anti-aircraft tank Gepard
- the Panzerhaubitze 2000
- Multiple Rocket Launcher
- the Iris-T anti-aircraft system
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), meanwhile, relies on artillery and anti-aircraft defense and insists on international coordination. He continues to evade the question of the delivery of Western battle tanks.
Ukraine lacks money in the war: exports fall drastically
In the export country Ukraine (grain, steel and iron), however, tax and customs revenues have collapsed since the beginning of the war. The country keeps its head above water not only with corporate profits and billions in transfers from Western finance ministers – but also with the savings of Ukrainian families, reports the Southgerman newspaper. The budget is currently missing a good five billion euros every month – around half of all expenditure, according to the report.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, spending on the army, police, secret service and territorial defense has exploded there, and the National Bank is selling its foreign exchange reserves and buying war bonds as a makeshift solution. According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the country’s exports fell by a quarter in the first half of 2022, the reported Kyiv Independent.
Dispute over grain deal: new meeting between Putin and Erdogan
Then there is the grain deal between Ukraine and Russia. The export agreement came about in July with Turkish mediation. Last week, however, Putin criticized the implementation as insufficient – and indirectly threatened to let it burst again.
At the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbek Samarkand, according to Russian sources, Putin wants to meet Xi Jinping, head of state of China, in addition to Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The signals from the Kremlin for negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are currently contradictory. (frs with dpa material)
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