Before a possible visit from Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in Kyiv calls for the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy clear support from Germany.
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Fierce fighting continued on Tuesday night in eastern Ukraine.
The events at a glance:
- “We need from Chancellor Scholz the certainty that Germany will support Ukraine. He and his government have to make a decision,” said Selenskyj in an interview with the ZDF “heute-journal” on Monday evening. Germany should not attempt a balancing act between Ukraine and relations with Russia. Scholz, he French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi could visit Ukraine in the middle of the week. An official date is still pending. The Italian newspaper “La Stampa” named this Thursday as a possible date for the three-way visit by Scholz, Macron and Draghi. Ukrainian media, citing French diplomats in Kyiv, reported that Macron was expected on Wednesday.
- “Germany came a little later than some of our neighboring countries, as far as arms shipments are concerned“, Zelenskyj continued to criticize on ZDF. But not only the Baltic states and other eastern EU countries, but also the USA and Great Britain have become active earlier. Initially, Germany and France only supported Ukraine politically and rhetorically. Recently, the Ukrainian side has frequently criticized the fact that Germany is too hesitant to deliver weapons that have already been promised. The Ukrainian government is hoping for concrete Promises for an immediate delivery of German tanks. Scholz rejected the accusation that he was too hesitant to deliver weapons that had already been promised. The training of Ukrainian soldiers on the sometimes very modern and complicated weapon systems is ongoing.
- Shortly before the expected meeting with Scholz, Macron and Draghi, Zelenskyj made it clear again that Ukraine Retrieval of the Crimean Peninsula from Russia is a war aim. “Of course we will also liberate our Crimea,” said the Ukrainian President. “The Ukrainian flag will again fly over Yalta and Sudak, over Dzhankoy and Yevpatoria.” Russia had them Peninsula in the Black Sea 2014 militarily occupied when Ukraine was weak after a change of power and unable to resist. Then an internationally unrecognized referendum was held and Crimea was annexed to Russia.
- Zelenskyj called on the citizens of Ukraine to maintain contact with the Russian-occupied parts of the country, to Donetsk and Kharkiv region to keep. These areas would also be liberated again. “Tell them that the Ukrainian army will definitely come!” Zelenskyy said. In the east, in the Donbass, the army is under pressure and the losses are terrible. The armed forces urgently need modern artillery from their foreign partners in order to be able to assert themselves.
- In the weeks embattled city of Sieverodonetsk According to the authorities, the third and last bridge over the river Siwerskyj Donez was also destroyed in eastern Ukraine. This means that the city is not completely sealed off, said the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajdaj. But be it not possible to evacuate civilians or to bring relief supplies into the city. Sjewerodonzek is mostly in Russian hands. “Unfortunately, as of today, Russia controls more than 70 percent, but not the entire city,” said Hajdaj on TV channel Belsat. There are hard fights for every house. With the capture of the city, the pro-Russian separatists, with Moscow’s help, had almost completely taken control of the Luhansk region and thus achieved an important war goal.
More on the Ukraine war at Tagesspiegel Plus:
This will be important today:
Macron starts a trip on Tuesday that will take him close to the conflict region. He will visit French troops who have been deployed there in the NATO and EU member state Romania and meet President Klaus Iohannis. The next day he is to meet Moldova’s President Maia Sandu. The ex-Soviet republic borders Ukraine and also wants to join the EU.
Meets in The Hague NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with the heads of government of Denmark, Belgium, Romania, Poland, Latvia and the Netherlands. They want to prepare for the upcoming NATO summit. (dpa)
