Ukraine war: EU gives Ukraine 500 million euros for weapons and equipment

Anti-war protests in Russia appear to be growing. In a video circulating on social media, a large crowd can be seen in St. Petersburg chanting “No to war!” chanted. Remarkable: The crowd seems to have increased, although there were numerous arrests during the day, which were documented by photos from the international news agencies.
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The English football association FA wants to boycott Russia: There will be no international matches until further notice. “In solidarity with Ukraine and in full condemnation of the acts of violence committed by the Russian leadership, the FA can confirm that we will not be playing any international matches against Russia for the foreseeable future,” the association said in a statement. That includes any games in any age group and in disabled sports.

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The situation in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev remains the same, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko tense. But: “Kiev is not completely encircled. The Ukrainian army is fighting hard in the outskirts and the Russian army has many casualties“He told the “Bild” on Sunday evening. In the Telegram news channel, he referred to false information that Russian troops had surrounded the city of millions. In the evening, an air alarm was triggered again in Kiev. At the same time, Klitschko appealed to the residents: “Only go into the city during the permitted times if it is absolutely necessary – to the shop, to the pharmacy.”

We already announced it on Saturday, now it’s official: The EU completely blocks the airspace for Russian planes over the member states. The EU foreign ministers decided that, as EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell announced in Brussels. Individual countries – including Germany – had previously announced and implemented appropriate measures.

Support for Ukraine is growing: The EU will allocate half a billion euros to supply arms and equipment to the Ukrainian armed forces. The permanent representatives of the 27 member states agreed on this on Sunday evening in Brussels, as several diplomats from the German Press Agency confirmed.
Of the 500 million euros, 450 million are to be made available for arms supplies and 50 million for other equipment. According to the plans, the money will come from the so-called European Peace Facility. It is a new EU financing instrument that can also be used to strengthen the capabilities of armed forces in partner countries. For the period from 2021 to 2027, the peace facility is endowed with around five billion euros.

The calls for a boycott of Russian soccer teams are getting louder. However, Uefa and Fifa have not yet decided to exclude Russian clubs from international competitions. For the Europa League, they only stipulated that Russian clubs do not have to play their home games in their own country, but on neutral ground. This also affects RB Leipzig, who do not yet know where they will play against Spartak Moscow in the round of 16 second leg on March 17. Leipzig coach Domenico Tedesco definitely doesn’t want to know anything about a boycott. “When the question of a boycott comes up, in my opinion it always affects the wrong people. It primarily affects the athletes and the fans,” said Tedesco after the 1-0 win against VfL Bochum. It is clear, however, “that I would have liked a different framework for this game. The current situation is bad. For me, war is not a solution in any situation.” Tedesco is particularly sorry because he worked as a coach for Spartak and still has good contacts in the Russian capital.

Apparently, Vladimir Putin does not have the backing of all the super-rich oligarchs. As reported by the “Financial Times” among others, the founder of Russia’s largest private bank, Alfa Bank, has spoken out against the invasion of Ukraine. In a letter to his employees called Mikhail Fridman, a native of Ukraine, urged “to end the bloodshed,” according to the report. War can never be the answer, the letter said. Fridman restricted that he did not want his statement to be understood “politically”. Oleg Deripaska, who, according to a “Forbes” report, made his fortune with Russian raw materials, called for “peace” and negotiations “as soon as possible” in a telegram on Sunday. According to Forbes, Deripaska is worth four billion dollars, Fridman even 11.7 billion dollars.

Click through our photo gallery of the worldwide peace demonstrations. https://twitter.com/sternde/status/1498000758704427008

In Sweden, too, old beliefs are being abandoned as a result of the Ukraine war. For the Scandinavians, the principle has so far applied is not to deliver weapons to crisis regions. That changes now: The Swedish government announced that it will deliver 5,000 anti-tank weapons, 5,000 helmets and 5,000 protective vests to Ukraine, among other things. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said in Stockholm that this decision was an “exception” and unprecedented since 1939. Back then, Sweden supported Finland after the Soviet invasion.

The United Nations has expressed grave concern at Russia’s move to put the nuclear power’s deterrent weapons on alert. “The mere idea of ​​a nuclear conflict is simply unimaginable,” UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said on Sunday. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin had put Russia’s deterrent weapons on special alert during the war in Ukraine. Putin cited the historically severe sanctions imposed by NATO states against Russia as the reason. He spoke of deterrence weapons, but not explicitly of nuclear weapons, in a video distributed by the Kremlin on Sunday. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the order “irresponsible”.

For the first time, Russia has acknowledged its own casualties in the war against Ukraine. “Russian soldiers are showing bravery and heroism in carrying out the special operation,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said, according to TASS agency. “Unfortunately, there are dead and injured among our comrades.” Konashenkov did not give any figures. However, he emphasized that the losses were many times lower than the number of “extinct nationalists”. Ukraine said about 4,300 Russian soldiers have been killed so far. This information cannot be independently verified. Konashenkov accused Ukraine of violating the Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War. Ukrainian representatives had asked for photos and videos of killed and captured Russian soldiers to be shown on the Internet. This should prove the high Russian losses.

Suddenly everything is put to the test, including the discussion about the supposedly failed energy transition. Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has therefore made it clear that extending the service life of coal or nuclear power plants is unsuitable for compensating for supply bottlenecks by cutting Russian deliveries. Nevertheless, his ministry is checking that, he said on Sunday in the ARD “Report from Berlin”. “There are no taboos.” Germany can do without Russian gas for this winter and summer, but the purchasing strategy must be significantly expanded for next winter. “The most important step would then of course be to reduce gas hunger as much as possible,” said Habeck. A plan for this will be presented soon.
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The Bundeswehr will be upgraded with 100 million euros. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced this in his government statement. But that does not mean that conscription will be reintroduced immediately, as Secretary of Defense Christine Lambrecht made clear. Despite the Ukraine crisis, Lamprecht sees no reason to reintroduce compulsory service. “I don’t think that conscription will really help us in the current discussion,” said the SPD politician. “That would be a major reform, and major legal issues would also have to be clarified.” She mentioned the question of whether women should then also be obliged to serve in the Bundeswehr. Conscription for adult men was suspended in Germany in 2011, but not completely abolished. In most other NATO countries, there is no longer compulsory military service.

BP will return its 19.75 percent stake in Russian oil company Rosneft in protest at the war in Ukraine. The company announced this. In addition, the two directors are resigning from the Rosneft board, it is said, including BP boss Bernhard Looney. This applies with immediate effect.

BP is thus ending a 30-year collaboration. “I am deeply shocked and saddened by the development of the situation in Ukraine (…) our immediate priority is to take care of our amazing people in the region (…) and to review how BP is supporting the broader humanitarian effort can,” Looney said in a statement on the decision. According to British media reports, BP gave in under pressure from the government in London.