Munich/Moscow Against the background of the severe tensions in the Ukraine conflict, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on all those involved to de-escalate. There is no alternative to diplomacy, he said on Friday at the start of the Munich Security Conference.
The nuclear power Russia, meanwhile, announced a maneuver using ballistic missiles. According to the Defense Ministry, the exercise this Saturday is led by President Vladimir Putin. The aim is to test the strategic nuclear weapons for their reliability. The world’s most important expert meeting on security policy will continue on the same day.
“I call on all parties to be extremely careful with their rhetoric. Public statements should aim to reduce tensions, not fuel them,” Guterres said. He also pointed out the danger of an incalculable escalation. This can also be triggered by communication breakdowns and false assumptions.
He is deeply concerned about the concentration of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and increasing speculation about a military conflict. Guterres: “I still think it won’t happen. But if it happened, it would be a disaster.” Moscow has been vehemently rejecting plans to attack the neighboring country for weeks.
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>>Read here: All news about the situation in Ukraine in our blog
The situation remained tense in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. The insurgents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions said that since midnight several dozen shells had been fired on their territory. Compared to the lecture, the shelling had been significantly intensified – despite an applicable ceasefire. The Ukrainian army also spoke of almost three dozen violations. This information could not be independently verified. It was also not initially known whether there were any victims in the new attacks. The sides blame each other for the violence.
Russia and OSCE are “very concerned” about attacks in Donbass
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was “very concerned” about the increased shelling. Weapons that are banned under the Minsk peace plan are being used, he said. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) also noted increased violations of the agreed ceasefire.
Since 2014, western-equipped government troops have been fighting Russian-backed separatists in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, not far from the Russian border. There have been new tensions for weeks. In view of the Russian troop buildup in the border area with Ukraine, the West is expressing the fear that the transfer of tens of thousands of soldiers could serve to prepare for war. Russia rejects this.
In view of the tense situation, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned of a new refugee movement in Europe. “If Russia invades Ukraine, Poland could see tens of thousands of displaced Ukrainians and others pouring across its border trying to save themselves and their families from the horrors of war,” Austin said in Warsaw after a meeting with Poland’s Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.
Blaszczak said Poland stands ready to help those who would be forced to leave Ukraine if attacked. Poland announced last week that the regional administrations in its country were preparing to take in refugees and preparing emergency shelters.
Austin wanted to call his Russian colleague Sergei Shoigu on Friday. The West is worried about many Russian maneuvers. There is no reason for that, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to the Interfax agency in Moscow. A number of exercises are currently underway “that are absolutely transparent for specialists from other countries”. Several exercises have already been completed.
Russia wants to test nuclear missiles on Saturday
This Saturday, the Russian army, under Putin’s supervision, also wants to fire ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. The Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is also present. Both countries are holding large-scale maneuvers in southern Belarus on the border with Ukraine until next Sunday. Russia tests missiles several times a year. The country and the US are by far the two largest nuclear powers in the world.
US President Joe Biden wanted to talk to allies on Friday about how to proceed in the Ukraine crisis. In addition to Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, leading politicians from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Poland and Romania are to take part in the talks, Trudeau’s office said. The European Union and NATO are also represented.
The crisis between the West and Russia is likely to dominate the Munich Security Conference. 30 heads of state and government are traveling to the expert meeting, as well as more than 80 ministers. It will be US Vice President Kamala Harris’ first appearance in front of a European audience. For the first time in 20 years, representatives of the Russian government are not taking part in the meeting.
Ischinger rejects allegations of financial interests
For the initiator of the security conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, it is the last security conference that he will chair as chairman after 14 years. His successor is former Merkel advisor Christoph Heusgen. Shortly before the start of the conference, the political magazines “Der Spiegel” and “Politico” accused Ischinger of having mixed up personal financial interests with his post at the security conference.
Before the conference, Ischinger was accused of confusing his personal financial interests with those of the MSC.
(Photo: dpa)
It is about lobbying by the consulting firm Agora for armaments companies. Ischinger has a 30 percent stake in Agora, but says it has handed over the shares to a trustee (blind trust). “I have an absolutely clear conscience. I’m not guilty of anything,” the diplomat dismissed the allegations.
Criticism, however, came from the Greens and non-governmental organizations. “The reporting makes me go to Munich with a bad feeling,” said defense policy spokeswoman for the Greens, Sara Nanni, and called for “quick clarification” of the facts. “Wolfgang Ischinger should completely withdraw from his consulting firm and resolve the conflict of interest,” demanded Timo Lange from the watchdog organization Lobbycontrol. Alexander Lurz, Greenpeace’s disarmament expert, spoke of a “moral low blow” for Ischinger and questioned the “neutrality of his foreign policy statements”.
More: MSC boss Ischinger warns: Democracies feel increasingly helpless