04.06.2022
Ukraine war in the live ticker
+++ 06:36 cost explosion: Bank in Central America approves a loan of 800 million dollars +++
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) says it has approved an $800 million loan. It is designed to protect local countries from global fuel price hikes caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “This measure will have a direct economic impact on millions of consumers,” BCIE President Dante Mossi said in a statement. Each of the group’s eight regional members could receive up to $200 million in funding. In Central American countries, the cost of fertilizers and local staples like corn and beans have skyrocketed as a result of rising fuel prices.
+++ 06:04 Ukraine says it is pushing back Russian troops in Sievjerodonetsk +++
In the strategically important city of Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, the defenders say they are pushing back the Russian forces. If the Russian soldiers previously controlled “about 70 percent” of the city, “they have now been pushed back by 20 percent,” says the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gajday. He describes a brutal back and forth. Russian forces “bomb our positions for hours, then they send in a company of freshly mobilized soldiers, they die, then they realize there are still pockets of resistance and they start bombing again,” says Gajdaj . Kyiv accuses Moscow of turning Ukraine’s last remaining bastion in Luhansk into a “second Mariupol.”
+++ 05:13 Göring-Eckardt wants to make Ukraine a candidate for EU membership +++
The Vice-President of the Bundestag, Katrin Göring-Eckardt, calls for Ukraine’s accession to the EU to be launched quickly. “It should be clear for Germany: Ukraine belongs to the European family,” said the Green politician to the “Funke” newspapers. “The next European Council is a good time to give Ukraine candidate status for EU membership.” In addition, according to Göring-Eckardt, Georgia and Moldova should be given candidate status in the near future. “Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova deserve our support and a reliable European perspective.” This effort is an obligation to secure the values of Europe in the long term.
+++ 02:57 Mützenich: Germany not suitable for the role of mediator +++
SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich does not consider Germany to be a suitable mediator in the war between Russia and Ukraine and instead proposes states like China for this role. “Germany will hardly be able to mediate in this conflict,” said Mützenich to the news portal “t-online”. “Because from Russia’s point of view, we took a too clear stance from the start.” Mützenich considers states that have held back in condemning Russia in the United Nations General Assembly to be suitable for the role of mediator.
+++ 01:22 Switzerland continues to block delivery of ammunition and tanks +++
Switzerland reaffirms its blocking stance on the export of Swiss arms to Ukraine via third countries. The Federal Council announced that Bern could not agree to the delivery of ammunition and wheeled armored personnel carriers from Germany and Denmark to Kyiv due to “the principle of equal treatment under neutrality law”. According to the War Material Act, export requests could not be approved if the recipient country is in an international armed conflict. Germany had therefore asked in Bern whether it could deliver 12,400 cartridges for the Gepard anti-aircraft tank to Kyiv. It was also about the transfer of 22 Piranha III wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, which Denmark had originally bought in Switzerland and which have been stored in Germany since they were decommissioned.
+++ 00:45 Kiev’s chief negotiator only wants to negotiate from a stronger position +++
According to its chief negotiator, Ukraine will only return to the negotiating table when it has a stronger position in the war against Russia. There are good reasons for the interruption as long as there is heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine, said Davyd Arakhamiya on Ukrainian television. “The negotiations should be continued when our negotiating position is strengthened,” said the parliamentary group leader of the presidential party, Servants of the People. Above all, Ukraine will become stronger because “the weapons that are constantly being promised to us by international partners finally arrive in sufficient quantities.” Negotiations broke down when, following the withdrawal of Russian soldiers, atrocities in Kiev suburbs such as Bucha became known. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj does not want to negotiate again until Russian troops at least withdraw to the pre-February 24 borders.
+++ 23:41 Latvia’s Prime Minister praises German Ukraine policy +++
Latvia’s Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins considers the German contribution to arming the Ukrainian army to be important. The arms deliveries by the traffic light coalition are helping Ukraine win the war against Russia, Karins told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He only sees deficits in the rhetoric of the federal government, which sometimes remain unclear. The Latvian head of government also defends the EU’s partial embargo on oil from Russia and emphasizes how important the prospect of EU membership is for Ukraine.
+++ 23:10 Zelenskyj: We fight for peace, victory, Ukraine +++
100 days after the Russian attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed to believe in victory. There are three words his country is fighting for: peace, victory, Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in his evening video address. The picture was taken in the open air in front of his office in Kyiv. “Exactly 100 days ago we woke up to a new reality,” said the head of state. He described the experience of war using new words that Ukrainians should have learned. These included terrible words like rocket hits, ruins, deportation. Place names have been added, such as Hostomel, Bucha or Mariupol, the names of Russian, Ukrainian and foreign weapon systems. But there are also positive words: reconstruction, return, liberation.
+++ 22:02 Russian plane arrested in Sri Lanka +++
An Aeroflot airliner has been detained in Sri Lanka because of international sanctions against Russia. The Foreign Ministry therefore summoned the ambassador of the island state in the Indian Ocean to Moscow. The government of Sri Lanka should clarify the situation as soon as possible, the Russian side demands. The Airbus A330 plane was supposed to be taking Russian tourists home but is now being held at Colombo airport until at least June 16. The trigger is said to be a court order at the request of an Irish leasing company that claims the aircraft.
+++ 21:38 Putin does not see Russia responsible for the grain blockade +++
Russian President Putin rejects Moscow’s responsibility for the shortage of grain on the world market. The crisis began before the war in Ukraine, which Putin calls a special military operation. It is not Russia that is preventing the export of wheat from Ukraine, he says on Russian television. Ukraine should remove the mines off its ports on the Black Sea coast. The Russian army will not use this for attacks, he promised. Russia can also make available the ports of Mariupol and Beryansk on the Sea of Azov, which it controls, says Putin.
+++ 20:58 Ukraine: Have recaptured parts of Sievjerodonetsk +++
According to Ukraine, it has regained about a fifth of the territory lost to the Russian army in the embattled city of Sievjerodonetsk. This is what the head of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaiday, said on television. The information cannot be independently verified. The twin cities of Sieverodonetsk and Lysychansk are the last Ukrainian bastions in the Luhansk region. Sievjerodonetsk has been hard fought for days.
+++ 20:24 Klitschko: “We all stand and fight together” +++
Kiev’s mayor Vitali Klitschko remains confident of victory. Russia is waging a “barbaric war to annihilate Ukraine and the Ukrainians,” he says in a selfie video. 100 days of war are full of bloody battles, losses and deaths. “But it is also a time of courage and perseverance,” said the former world boxing champion. “We all stand and fight together. Everyone in their place. We admire our forces,” he said. Ukraine will free itself from the “Russian barbarians”. “Yes, it will be difficult. But I believe that each of us will come through these trials with dignity.”
Earlier developments of the Ukraine war you can read here.