Putin and Erdogan conclude an economic and energy agreement at their meeting in Sochi. In the turmoil surrounding the controversial Amnesty report, the Ukraine boss is now resigning. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
Tuesday, August 9, 7:25 a.m.: Latvia is getting gas from Russia again. This is reported by the online portal “Nexta”. At the end of July, Gazprom stopped delivering to neighboring Russia. The gas giant had previously accused Latvia of violating “purchase conditions” but gave no details.
Riga depends on Russia for natural gas. However, prior to the renewed imports, the Latvian government announced that it did not expect Gazprom’s lack of deliveries to have a major impact.
11:14 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj calls for an international travel ban for all Russians to prevent Moscow from annexing occupied territories. “The most important sanctions are to close the borders, because the Russians are taking other people’s land,” he told the Washington Post in an interview on Monday. Russians should “live in their own world until they change their philosophy”.
A referendum on joining the Russian Federation was announced on Monday in the Russian-occupied part of the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhia. Similar plans exist for the occupied territory of Kherson.
Zelenskyj’s comments are also met with a growing discussion in the EU to make it more difficult or to stop issuing tourist visas to Russians. Even if travel is made more difficult by the cut flight and rail connections, many Russians traveled to the EU in the summer despite the war. Russia’s neighbor Latvia in the Baltic States has already tightened visa regulations. Finland is considering this, but demands a solution for the whole Schengen area.
After Russia’s war against Ukraine, there should be neither a simmering nor a frozen conflict, Zelenskyy said in his evening video address. “Ukraine must get back everything that Russia has temporarily occupied.” Only an obvious defeat of the attacker is protection against another war, the Ukrainian president said in Kyiv.
10:41 p.m .: The Ukrainian secret service says it has foiled an attack by Russian spies on Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov and the head of military intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov. “Murderers from the Russian special services who were planning attacks were arrested,” the Ukrainian domestic secret service SBU said on Monday on the online service Telegram. A video released at the same time by the SBU shows an armed group overpowering two men in plain clothes and handcuffing them.
The two men were reportedly arrested in Kovel, northwestern Ukraine. One of the alleged conspirators came from Russia via Belarus. They are said to have prepared the “physical liquidation” of Reznikov and Budanov. They are said to have been promised a reward of up to $ 150,000 (147,000 euros) for each “murder”.
9:10 p.m .: Russia initially does not want to allow the contractually stipulated controls of its nuclear weapons arsenal by the USA again. This was announced by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday in Moscow. Under the current conditions, Russia cannot carry out the planned controls on US territory. Therefore, resuming US inspections on Russian territory would give the Americans an advantage, the statement said.
The mutual controls are provided for in the disarmament treaty New Start. It is the only remaining major arms control agreement between the US and Russia. The treaty limits the nuclear arsenals of both countries to 800 delivery systems and 1,550 operational warheads each. In February 2021, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to extend New Start until 2026. The inspections have been suspended since March 2020 due to the corona pandemic.
The State Department noted that Russia is currently unable to fly inspectors to the United States because of sanctions on its planes. Their safety is also not given due to the continued high number of corona infections in the USA. The measures are only temporary, it was confirmed. Russia continues to see the treaty as an “important instrument for maintaining international security and stability”.
Beyond the details of the inspections, the US and Russia disagree on the future of nuclear arms control. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov complained that Washington had not yet offered any new talks. Biden said his administration is ready to negotiate. However, Russia’s war against Ukraine represents an attack on the cornerstones of the international order.
9:02 p.m .: The United States wants to support Ukraine with additional military aid amounting to one billion dollars (around 980 million euros). This was announced on Monday by the US Department of Defense. Among other things, more rockets for the multiple rocket launchers of the type Himars should be delivered, which are considered by the Ukrainian army to be particularly effective in the fight against the Russian invasion troops.
From the Ukrainian point of view, Himar’s multiple rocket launchers, which can fire at targets up to 80 kilometers away, are crucial in the fight against Russia. They can also be used to attack bases beyond the front line. According to the Pentagon, the new US military aid also includes surface-to-air missiles to defend against Russian aircraft and missiles, anti-tank missiles and other ammunition.
For its part, the World Bank announced on Monday that it wanted to support Ukraine, which had been massively destroyed in many places by the Russian war of aggression, with a further 4.5 billion dollars. The government in Kyiv should be able to use the money provided by the USA to pay pensions and salaries, among other things.
In order to prevent a further deterioration in the living conditions of the people, the health, education and social services in Ukraine would have to be maintained, among other things, the World Bank explained. The new aid should contribute to this. These are part of an aid package for Ukraine totaling $8.5 billion pledged by the United States through the World Bank.
Monday, August 8, 7:40 a.m.: Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya expects strong resistance to her country’s possible full participation in Russia’s war against Ukraine. “Our partisan movement will sabotage that. Orders will be disobeyed. Or the Belarusian soldiers will surrender there immediately, ”said the politician of the German Press Agency. Two years after the presidential elections in Belarus, which were considered fraudulent, she said that Russia, with its support for ruler Alexander Lukashenko, probably already had the ex-Soviet republic in mind as a “bridgehead” for an attack.
In the election on August 9, 2020, the authoritarian ruler Lukashenko was again proclaimed the winner of the election, triggering unprecedented protests in Belarus. Many see Tichanovskaya as the winner of the election. Due to massive state repression, there are now almost no more major demonstrations in the ex-Soviet republic.
“Lukashenko is a collaborator. He dragged Belarus into this war and now he’s doing whatever is asked of him to keep Russia in power,” Tikhanovskaya said ahead of the second anniversary of the disputed presidential election. Today it is clear that the Kremlin probably already had war plans back then and therefore left Lukashenko in power. In her exile in Vilnius, the politician criticized that he was leaving Belarusian territory so that Russian forces could attack Ukraine from there.
“But at the beginning of the war there were also acts of sabotage against the important supply routes. Rail partisans slowed military transport; and information was given to the Ukrainian armed forces about the bases from which Russian missiles were fired. “A battalion of Belarusian fighters was also formed in Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
Despite the high pressure of expectations from the Kremlin, Lukashenko has still not managed to get the country on course for war, said Tichanovskaya. 86 percent of the people in Belarus are against the war. There is no anti-Ukrainian sentiment here.” At the same time, she complained about “massive repression”. “Anyone who speaks out openly against the war is treated like an opponent of the regime.” The situation of the political prisoners in the country, including her husband Sergei Tichanowski, is devastating, said the mother of two.
10:19 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has indicated new arms deliveries to his compatriots in view of heavy fighting in the Donbass. “Next week we expect news from partners regarding the aid packages. Good news!” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address on Sunday. The key to successful defense is still arms deliveries from the West, he warned.
According to Zelenskyy, the toughest fighting is raging in Donbass. The situation there remains difficult. Defending places like “Avdiivka, Pisky, Maryinka and Bakhmut requires our main effort and, unfortunately, a lot of lives,” he said.
He also renewed his accusations against Russia for shelling the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. A “principled response from the world community” must follow, he demanded. The power plant came under fire again on Sunday. Russia and Ukraine blame each other for the shelling. The International Atomic Energy Agency is demanding that both sides allow international nuclear experts unimpeded access to the facility.
The Ukrainian President only touched on the meeting with Oscar winner Jessica Chastain. In the small town of Irpin, she saw the consequences of the Russian occupation with her own eyes. “Your story about the war will definitely be heard,” Zelenskyy announced, without giving details. In the past few weeks, several well-known international actors have been guests in Kyiv.
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