Ukraine war: Putin gives Scholz important information

In the Ukraine war, CDU leader Merz suddenly thinks of a NATO mission – Olaf Scholz reacts clearly. Annalena Baerbock announces new sanctions. The news ticker.

• The Ukraine war* lasts over a week. There is also great concern in Germany.
• After a fire on the site of a nuclear power plant, CDU leader Friedrich Merz is considering a NATO mission. (see first report)
• Vladimir Putin has informed Chancellor Olaf Scholz about planned negotiations (update from March 4, 3:40 p.m.).
• This News ticker on reactions from Germany to the Ukraine war is continuously updated.

Update from March 4, 8:21 p.m.: The Russian attack on Ukraine’s nuclear power plant is Putin’s third nuclear threat to the West. He detonated the atomic bomb on the financial market. A commentary by Georg Anastasiadis*.

Germany’s position in the Ukraine war: Baerbock accuses Russia of targeted attacks against people

Update from March 4, 4:17 p.m.: Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accuses Russia of targeted attacks against the people of Ukraine. “You can clearly see that Putin’s war of aggression is now aimed at taking action against the civilian population with the utmost brutality,” she said on Friday afternoon on the fringes of consultations with colleagues in Brussels. “We condemn in the strongest terms what has happened in the last few hours – that the attacks continue to spread to civilians.”

The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin* is acting “with absolute severity” against the civilian population makes it clear once again that he doesn’t care about international agreements and international rules, added the Greens politician. According to Baerbock, humanitarian support for the Ukrainians affected by the war is now being massively expanded. It is important to ensure that people affected by the “inhumane attacks” have access to humanitarian aid, medicine, food and water, she said.

Next Ukraine attempt? Putin gives Scholz important information

Update from March 4, 3:40 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) spoke to Vladimir Putin on the phone on Friday. “During the one-hour conversation, both of them exchanged their different points of view,” explained government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Scholz therefore called on “the Russian leadership to immediately stop all combat operations”.

During the conversation, the Chancellor also expressed his concern about the situation in Ukraine. There have been bad pictures and information from Ukraine for days. That’s why Scholz asked Putin to allow humanitarian access to the contested areas.

All that was said about Putin was that he had informed the Chancellor that Russia and Ukraine had scheduled a third round of talks for this weekend. Putin and Scholz also agreed to hold further talks in the near future. Scholz has repeatedly condemned the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine war: Germany is feeling the effects – the number of refugees has doubled

Update from March 4, 2:47 p.m.: Germany is feeling the effects of the Ukraine war: According to the Federal Police, 18,436 people have fled from Ukraine to the Federal Republic so far. The number of daily arrivals has thus doubled within 24 hours. Most of those arriving are women and children, said a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Friday in Berlin. About 15,000 of these people are Ukrainians. However, not all people who come from Ukraine report to the authorities.

The security authorities in Germany are also getting things to do: the protective measures at facilities in Russia and Ukraine have been “adapted to the situation”, said North Rhine-Westphalian Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) on Friday after a conference with his counterparts from the Union-led departments in Dusseldorf. He spoke of “other security modalities” than two weeks ago.

In the meantime, almost every fourth partnership between a German and a Russian city has apparently been suspended. He reports that mirror citing a survey of 82 German municipalities; 61 cities responded, it said.

NATO mission in Ukraine? Merz receives harsh criticism: “Provokes expansion to the third world war”

Update from March 4, 1:48 p.m.: CDU leader Friedrich Merz is reaping headwind for his – initially purely hypothetical – thoughts on a NATO mission in Ukraine. Germany and NATO must not militarily allow themselves to be drawn into Russia’s war against Ukraine, said Left MP Sevim Dagdelen on Friday. Merz is talking about NATO taking part in the war, giving Ukraine false hope and provoking an “expansion into World War III between nuclear powers,” she warned.

At least indirectly, Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn also warned against such plans. A military intervention by NATO would be “a world catastrophe,” he explained – albeit in relation to Ukrainian demands for a no-fly zone over the country. Such a no-fly zone would have to be decided by the United Nations and the question arises as to who would control this zone, Asselborn said before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also repeatedly rejected NATO participation in the conflict.

Germany in the Ukraine crisis: Embassy calls for further arms deliveries

Update from March 4, 12:17 p.m.: Ukraine has urgently asked the German government to supply heavy weapons to fight Russian troops. In a verbal note to the Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense dated Thursday, the Ukrainian embassy names main battle tanks, submarines and attack helicopters, among other things. “There is a threat of further attacks, especially on the civilian population, on an unprecedented scale,” warns the embassy in the letter, quoted by the AFP news agency. “The federal government should take this catastrophic war situation very seriously.”

In the letter, the Ukrainian embassy points out that “the Russian side uses highly modern weapon systems (…) indiscriminately”. Russia has started a “war of annihilation against Ukraine and the Ukrainians” and is committing war crimes. The German government must therefore enable Ukraine to exercise its right to self-defence, enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter, by supplying arms.

Ukraine war and Germany’s reaction: Merz thinks about the NATO mission – Scholz speaks the word of power

Overview/initial report: Berlin/Brussels – The sometimes dramatic situation in the Ukraine war continues to cause great concern in Germany. CDU leader Friedrich Merz now also believes a NATO mission in Ukraine is possible – for example if there are targeted attacks on nuclear power plants, as rumored by the Ukrainian side after an incident at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens)* has meanwhile announced further sanctions against Russia.

If nuclear power plants were attacked, “if the reactor blocks might even be hit, then we are directly threatened by the effects of this war,” Merz told the broadcaster NDR Info. In this case, NATO must consider whether this is also an attack on its own territory*. But it’s not that far, he stressed.

“There may be a situation in which NATO then also has to make decisions to stop Putin,” Merz continued. He assumes that governments, the EU and NATO will think about this scenario, said Merz. “The attacks and the way this war is being fought are taking forms that are thought-provoking.”

Merz supports Ukraine course: video

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) *, on the other hand, emphasized on Friday during a visit to the troops near Potsdam that it was clear that NATO would not take part in the conflict: “We can rule that out.” It is important to “keep a cool head” and expand the to avoid conflict.

After the fire on the Ukrainian nuclear power plant site, the Ministry of the Environment* is also monitoring the situation. The Ministry and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection declared that they would provide information on relevant developments on an ongoing basis. “Should the BMUV have indications that a radiological emergency with significant effects is occurring in Ukraine, the federal radiological situation center in the BMUV would assess the situation, inform the public and, if necessary, give recommendations for action.” Both authorities continued to advise “urgently from taking iodine tablets independently”.

Ukraine war: Baerbock turns to Ukrainians – and warns Putin

Baerbock again pledged Western support to Ukraine. “We will never leave the Ukrainians to their fate,” she declared before leaving for Brussels for the meeting of foreign ministers from NATO, the G7 and the EU on Friday. “Neither those who are defending their country on the ground, nor those who are seeking refuge outside their homeland and rely on our support to do so.”

After her urgent speech on Thursday, Baerbock again warned Russian President Vladimir Putin that with his war against Ukraine “he was also ruining his own country”. “President Putin has only achieved one thing with his war: immeasurable suffering on all sides,” said the Foreign Minister. “We will continue to show him – as we did recently in New York – politically and economically that he must reckon with united action and global isolation from Russia if he continues on this course.”

Ukraine war: new sanctions by Germany – and further arms deliveries?

Baerbock also announced further punitive measures for Russia. “Beyond the three severe sanctions packages that we have already decided on, we will take further measures that target Putin’s center of power,” she said on Friday at the sidelines of a special meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The Green politician did not initially give any details.

The Prime Minister of the Saarland, Tobias Hans, has meanwhile called for further arms deliveries. Plans for Germany’s missile deliveries only became known on Thursday. Ultimately, it’s also about peace in Germany and the EU, said the CDU politician on Friday in RTL/n-tv’s “Frühstart”. “Ukraine needs our support, it still needs arms supplies.”

The EU sanctions against Ukraine* that have been decided so far include severe economic and financial sanctions. In addition, some oligarchs associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin have already been put on the EU sanctions list. Among other things, this freezes their assets in the EU and restricts their freedom to travel. (fn/dpa) *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.