Selenski probably virtually at the NATO summit

Frankfurt/Dusseldorf Ahead of the NATO summit on Thursday in Brussels, the United States and its European allies are looking for ways to further increase the pressure on Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine war. US President Joe Biden is to present a joint action plan during his trip to Europe to strengthen European energy security and reduce dependence on Russian oil and natural gas, said US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Tuesday evening (CET).

So far, Sullivan said that Russian President Putin has not been able to achieve any of the three basic goals in his war of aggression against Ukraine. “First, Ukraine should be subjugated, second, Russian power and prestige should be strengthened, and third, the West should be divided and weakened.” Russia has “so far achieved the opposite.”

However, before Biden’s trip to Europe, Sullivan also warned that the war would continue: “There will be tough days in Ukraine, the toughest for the Ukrainian troops at the front and for the civilian population under Russian fire,” said the security adviser. “This war will end neither easily nor quickly.”

According to Sullivan, the USA and its western allies will also announce further sanctions against Russia at the NATO and EU summit in Brussels. It is about “another sanctions package.” An important element will be tightening the existing sanctions in such a way that Moscow will make it even more difficult to circumvent the sanctions, Sullivan said.

Because of the Ukraine war, Biden is leaving for a trip to Europe this Wednesday. He will initially attend the summits of NATO, the EU and the leading democratic economic powers (G7) in Brussels on Thursday. Biden will continue to Warsaw on Friday. A bilateral meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda is planned for Saturday. It is Biden’s third trip to Europe since taking office in January 2021.

diplomatic efforts

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke at the same time with Putin about the conditions for a ceasefire with Ukraine. The Élysée Palace then announced that the approximately one-hour phone call on Tuesday was also about “security requirements for substantial issues”. More specific information was not given.

The Kremlin said a “detailed exchange of views on the situation around Ukraine, including ongoing negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives” continued. In past phone calls with foreign heads of state and government, Putin has repeatedly accused the West of ignoring Ukrainian attacks on civilians in eastern Ukraine.

The US Ambassador to Moscow, John Sullivan, spoke of signs from the Russian leadership that “suggested that diplomatic relations could be ended”. However, the United States has no intention of closing the embassy in Moscow. US President Biden recently described Putin as a “war criminal” and then as a “murderous dictator”.

In a video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is staying in Kyiv, called on his compatriots to drive out the “invaders”. In a booth in front of the Italian parliament, Selenski reported that at least 117 children had already been killed. According to his own statements, Selenski had previously telephoned Pope Francis and advocated mediation by the Vatican. According to a media report, the Ukrainian head of state will attend the NATO summit virtually. The details still have to be worked out, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a press spokesman.

UN Secretary-General Guterres said in New York that Russia could not win the war. “Ukraine cannot be conquered city by city, street by street, house by house. Sooner or later you will have to move from the battlefield to the peace table.” The Portuguese called for an immediate ceasefire. Continuing the war is morally unacceptable, politically unacceptable and militarily senseless.

military situation

Meanwhile, fighting in Ukraine continued unabated. According to the Ukrainian General Staff and the Pentagon, the Russian troops are having increasing problems with supplies. They still have ammunition and food for a maximum of three days, according to Kyiv. The situation with fuel is similar. Such information cannot be independently verified.

There are also deficiencies in the equipment for the soldiers, said a senior official at the US Department of Defense. “We have received indications that some soldiers did in fact suffer frostbite and were withdrawn from combat. So they continue to have problems with logistics and supplies.” The Russian troops also have problems communicating with each other. The Pentagon official attributed the logistical difficulties faced by Russian forces to poor Russian planning and continued Ukrainian resistance.

The Ukrainian side reported successful attacks on Tuesday. In the air, nine Russian targets were hit within 24 hours. According to the Ukrainian government, three escape corridors were to be opened in the particularly hard-fought city of Mariupol on Tuesday – it was unclear whether this was successful.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk reported in the evening that fighters from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic had taken several Ukrainian civil defense workers “hostage” in Manhush, ten kilometers west of Mariupol. The people drove buses in which civilians were to be evacuated from Mariupol. The information could not be independently verified.

Russia reported further advances in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. You have therefore gained control of other places. The Ukrainian General Staff disagreed.

humanitarian situation

The number of people fleeing Ukraine because of the war has risen to more than 3.5 million, according to the United Nations (UN). Ukraine had a population of more than 44 million before the Russian attack began. “We have to assume that there will be eight to ten million refugees in the next few weeks,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at an EU meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said more than two million Ukrainians had fled to neighboring Poland. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), around 500,000 of them need support because of mental health problems. Around 30,000 have serious mental health problems, said WHO representative for Poland, Paloma Cuchi.

Refugees arriving in Poland suffered from a range of health problems, including diarrhea and dehydration. However, the most support is needed for coping with trauma.

In Germany, 232,462 war refugees have been registered by the federal police since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine. This was announced by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on Tuesday.

More on the Ukraine war:

However, this number does not reflect the entire flight process. Because it is limited to refugees who were found by the federal police, for example at the Austrian-Bavarian border, at train stations or on trains.

As a rule, there are no fixed border controls at the internal EU borders, and Ukrainians are also allowed to enter the country without a visa. The number of people who actually arrived is therefore probably significantly higher. It is also not recorded how many of the refugees may be traveling on from Germany to friends or relatives in other countries.

Scholz remains opposed to a boycott of Russian gas

At the same time, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) reiterated his no to an energy embargo against Russia. The position of the federal government is unchanged, said Scholz after a meeting with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, in Berlin. On the one hand, sanctions would have to have a strong effect on Russia, but on the other hand they would also have to be manageable for the country’s own economy. The Ukraine, but also some EU countries are pushing for an EU ban on imports of energy from Russia. They argue that President Putin uses the proceeds – several hundred million euros every day – to finance his war.

A solidarity fund for Ukraine is to be decided at the forthcoming EU summit in order to rebuild the country after the end of the war. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner also called for an “international Marshall Plan for Ukraine” in the Bundestag.

After 1945, Western Europe, which had been destroyed by the Second World War, was rebuilt with the Marshall Plan. The US spent billions on it.

Lindner introduced the federal budget for 2022 on Tuesday and also announced a supplementary budget. This will only include expenses that are directly related to the Ukraine war, he said in the Bundestag. The supplementary budget is likely to add billions more in debt.
With material from dpa and Reuters.

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