Moscow, Kyiv At the same time as the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West against direct military confrontation with a view to the Ukraine war. “Today we hear that they want to beat us on the battlefield. What can I say? Let them try,” he said at a meeting with parliamentary faction leaders in the Kremlin in Moscow.
Russia hasn’t even really started in Ukraine, he said. The meeting of the foreign ministers of the 20 major industrialized and emerging countries (G20) was to be continued this Friday in Bali, Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the West to continue supplying arms. Friday is the 135th day of war in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) confirmed that he would support Ukraine for as long as necessary. “We will show solidarity for as long – at least that’s my wish – as is necessary so that Ukraine can defend itself against the terrible and brutal Russian attack,” he said on ZDF on Thursday evening.
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The demand by the CDU and CSU to deliver 200 Fuchs-type armored personnel carriers to Ukraine did not find a majority in the Bundestag on Friday night.
Kyiv sharply disagrees with Putin
Putin said it had been said repeatedly that the West wanted to fight “us to the last Ukrainian”. While this is a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, “it seems like everything is coming down to that”.
The Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak sharply rejected this: Putin’s mantra of “war to the last Ukrainian” is further evidence of the “genocide” planned by Russia against the Ukrainians, Podoliak wrote on Twitter. Putin resorted to “primitive propaganda”.
Selenski asks for more arms deliveries
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has demanded more arms from the West in the war against Russia. “The greater the defense assistance to Ukraine now, the sooner the war will end with our victory and the less the losses of all countries in the world will be,” he said in a video message.
The partners have accurate information about Ukraine’s needs. “This applies to both air defense and modern artillery.”
No parliamentary majority for delivery of 200 Fuchs tanks
The demand by the CDU and CSU to deliver 200 Fuchs armored personnel carriers to Ukraine at short notice did not find a majority in the Bundestag. Parliament voted against a corresponding motion for a resolution by the Union faction on Friday night.
The members of the Bundestag spoke out against the delivery of 200 of these vehicles to Ukraine.
(Photo: dpa)
Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) had already warned before the vote that the Bundeswehr would be “looted”. “We support Ukraine with everything that is possible and responsible. But we have to ensure Germany’s ability to defend itself,” she told the German Press Agency.
The Bundestag had previously decided on measures to accelerate procurement in order to quickly improve the Bundeswehr’s equipment. The law passed on Thursday evening will initially make it possible to award orders more quickly for three and a half years. In this way, various orders can be placed together and joint projects with other EU countries can be implemented more easily.
Dead and injured in shelling
People were again injured or killed when places in the war zone in eastern Ukraine were shelled. In the Kharkov region, the authorities said three people were killed and five wounded in Russian attacks on Thursday. According to the authorities, two people died and eight were injured in the towns of Kramatorsk and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region.
Russian attacks only hit civilian targets, said the region’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko. The pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region spoke of one dead and eleven wounded by Ukrainian shelling. Battlefield reports cannot be independently verified.
This is how the Handelsblatt reports on the Ukraine war and the consequences:
Since Russia took control of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the focus of fighting has shifted to neighboring Donetsk. The Russian army is particularly targeting the cities of Kramatorsk and Slowjansk. At the meeting with the Duma faction leaders, Putin said that all the goals of the “military operation” would be achieved – “without a doubt”.
Johnson pledges British support
After his announced resignation as British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson assured President Zelensky of the United Kingdom’s unwavering support. A government spokeswoman said Johnson had assured in the call that Britain would provide important “defensive aid” for as long as necessary. Zelensky thanked Johnson for his “uncompromising support” since Russia’s war of aggression began in February.
“Bridges, not walls”: G20 hostess Marsudi calls for peace
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called for the end of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine at the start of the G20 foreign ministers’ consultations on the island of Bali. “Our responsibility is to end the war as soon as possible. And to build bridges and not walls,” said the politician.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is received by Retno Marsudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
(Photo: dpa)
Shortly before, she had cautiously greeted the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on his arrival at the luxury hotel Mulia in the seaside resort of Nusa Dua. He left again on Friday after his speech, thus avoiding another meeting with G20 representatives from the West, including Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
That will be important on Friday
Despite Lavrov’s departure, the war in Ukraine is likely to be one of the most important topics at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali.
The Ukraine war and the energy crisis will also occupy the Federal Council. In view of the throttling of Russian gas supplies, the state chamber wants to advise on the increased use of coal-fired power plants for electricity production.
The Bundestag will also decide this Friday on Germany’s approval of Sweden and Finland joining NATO. The move by Sweden and Finland is a direct response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
More: Don’t miss any development – everything new in our news blog about the Ukraine war