European Parliament demands recognition of Ukraine as a candidate for EU membership +++ Habeck calls for second stage of crisis in gas emergency plan +++ US government wants to increase pressure on Russia at G7 summit +++ The news about Russia’s war in Ukraine in the star-Ticker.
Day 120 of the Ukraine War: As Ukraine moves towards EU candidate status, Russia is stepping up attacks in the east of the country. The strategically important city of Lysychansk in the Luhansk region is increasingly becoming the target. During the night, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again called for faster arms deliveries “to stop this diabolical armada and push it out of Ukraine’s borders”. The most important developments in star-Ticker.
2:39 p.m .: Xi opens Brics summit with appeal against sanctions
The heads of state and government of the Brics countries have started their consultations with China’s renewed appeal against Western sanctions. The Brics countries, which also include Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, should “take responsibility” and work for “equality and justice” in the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping demanded in his opening remarks. Unilateral sanctions must be opposed.
The five so-called Brics states – named after their first letters – have met once a year since 2009. However, due to the strict corona measures in China, which is the formal host, this year’s summit will only take place via video link. It was expected that in addition to closer cooperation, the conference would also discuss the Ukraine war. Xi Jinping had already criticized the policies of the West and NATO the evening before.
1:20 p.m .: Kremlin insists on maximum demands for peace with Ukraine
Four months after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Kremlin is standing by all its demands with a view to possible future negotiations. “As far as a peace plan is concerned, it is possible after Kyiv has met all the demands of the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency. Peskow did not name the demands in detail. “Ukraine knows them well,” he said simply.
Moscow’s publicly expressed demands at the beginning of the war included recognizing the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states and the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014 as Russian state territory. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently formulated the recapture of Crimea and the areas occupied since the end of February as one of Kiev’s explicit goals.
1:10 p.m .: Kremlin – Shortened gas supplies not politically motivated
In the face of drastically reduced gas supplies, Moscow has denied any blame. “The Russian Federation is fulfilling all its obligations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax agency. Peskow once again denied that the gas throttling via the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 was politically motivated. Rather, sanction-related delays in repair work are the cause of the problem. According to Russian information, a Siemens turbine for the pipeline is stuck abroad. Shortly before, the federal government had declared the alarm level in the gas emergency plan. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck sees the Russian explanations for the supply bottlenecks as a pretext and recently accused Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin of an “economic attack”.
1:08 p.m .: Baerbock: In addition to heavy weapons, Ukraine also needs humanitarian aid
12:33 p.m .: The European Parliament calls for Ukraine to be recognized as a candidate for EU membership
Shortly before the EU summit, the European Parliament called for Ukraine and neighboring Moldova to be recognized as official EU accession candidates. In a non-binding resolution, a large majority of MEPs called on the heads of state and government of the member countries to “grant candidate country status to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova without delay” at their summit in Brussels. Georgia should also be granted this status as soon as the government meets certain criteria specified by the European Commission. At the same time, the European Parliament emphasizes that “there is no accelerated procedure for membership in the EU” and that accession “still” is a process that depends on the “implementation of reforms”. Starting in the afternoon, the 27 heads of state and government want to decide on the official recognition of the candidate countries Ukraine and Moldova.
10:56 a.m .: Lithuania wants to address the Kaliningrad dispute at the EU summit
Lithuania’s head of state Gitanas Nauseda wants to address the dispute with Russia over transit restrictions to the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad at the EU summit. “The President will raise this issue because it is a topical issue in our lives and because Russia has threatened a whole series of retaliatory measures against Lithuania, which implements EU sanctions,” said his foreign policy adviser at the BNS agency in Vilnius. “In our opinion, it would be correct to say that this is an issue for the EU – not for Lithuania, but for the EU as a whole. And that the EU shows solidarity when it comes to implementing the sanctions,” said Nauseda’s adviser.
Lithuania on Saturday banned the transit of goods on the EU sanctions list through its territory to the area around the former Koenigsberg.
10.02 a.m .: Habeck announces the second crisis level in the gas emergency plan
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) has declared the second stage of the crisis in the gas emergency plan. The reason for this is the cut in Russian gas supplies that has been in place since mid-June and the high prices on the gas market, said Habeck. The situation is currently “tense”, but the security of supply is guaranteed.
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9.57 a.m .: All EU institutions ban Russian lobbyists from their premises
After the European Parliament, the other EU institutions have now also banned Russian lobbyists from their premises. The entry ban for representatives of Russian companies also applies to the European Commission and the European Council, an EU official said before the start of the EU summit in Brussels. This further implements the EU sanctions imposed on Russia because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The European Parliament had already taken the step at the beginning of June and called on the other EU institutions to also ban lobbyists of Russian interests from their premises.
8.56 a.m .: Circles – the federal government wants to declare the gas emergency plan at an alarm level
According to dpa information, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck will announce the alarm level of the gas emergency plan in the morning. As reported from well-informed circles, utility companies should not yet be given the opportunity to increase their gas prices under the Energy Security Act.
5.53 a.m .: EPP boss Weber calls for more arms deliveries to Ukraine before the EU summit
Before the EU summit in Brussels, the leader of the party and parliamentary group of the European Christian Democrats, Manfred Weber (CSU), called for more arms deliveries to Ukraine. “I think more can be done,” Weber told the newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND) on Thursday. “After a careful examination, we could send some weapons that are intended as a reserve for the country’s defense to Ukraine send. Weapons are needed there that are currently not needed here.”
5.45 a.m .: Ex-Environment Minister Trittin against gas production in the North Sea
Former Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin spoke out against the planned gas production off the North Sea island of Borkum. “I think the project is neither expedient nor relevant,” said the Greens member of the Bundestag of the German Press Agency in Hanover. “The 60 billion cubic meters that are there don’t even cover a year’s requirements in Germany. That doesn’t play a major role in replacing Russian gas.” Trittin said it was more important to him that gas consumption be reduced. “That’s why, for example, a ban on combustion cars and oil and gas heating systems is not just about climate protection, but also about global justice. We can’t buy the rest of the world’s energy,” he said.
4.10 a.m .: Survey – majority sees relationship with Russia as permanently damaged
A majority of Germans consider German-Russian relations to be permanently damaged because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In a poll conducted by the opinion research institute Forsa and commissioned by the magazine “Internationale Politik”, more than two-thirds of those questioned (71 percent) consider it impossible that, with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a return to relations between Moscow and Berlin is possible, as she is existed before the start of the war. Just under a quarter (24 percent) believe that relations could go back to the way they were before the war ended.
2:48 a.m.: Movement in negotiations on Russian grain blockade
Negotiations to break the Russian grain blockade in Ukraine appear to be making progress. UN Security Council circles confirmed to the German Press Agency the possibility of a meeting between the conflicting parties together with UN Secretary General António Guterres in Turkey – possibly as early as next week. The talks are at a point where the UN chief would negotiate directly with Russians and Ukrainians to secure a deal. However, diplomats in New York warned against too much optimism: So far there has been no agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
The international community has been demanding that Russia allow the export of Ukrainian grain for weeks. Ukraine complains that its ports in the Black Sea are blocked by the Russian Navy.
0.38 a.m .: Estonia is demanding more help from larger EU countries for Ukraine
Estonia has demanded more military aid to Ukraine in the war against Russia from the larger EU states. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said her country had “already done a lot for the people of Ukraine and can’t really do much more”. “But I believe there are still opportunities to help them, from the larger member states.” According to government information from Tallinn, the Baltic EU and NATO member has so far provided military aid worth more than 230 million euros.
0.20 a.m .: The US government wants to increase pressure on Russia at the G7 summit
According to the White House, the USA wants to increase the pressure on Russia at the G7 summit in Bavaria because of the war of aggression against Ukraine. A senior US government official said the United States would make “a number of concrete proposals” at the meeting that begins this Sunday. This should also demonstrate the common support for Ukraine. In addition to other topics, the agenda also includes the consequences of the war on price increases and on energy and food security worldwide.
Source: Stern
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