The EU has overturned a Lithuanian ban and cleared the way for Russian transports to Kaliningrad. Scholz spoke in a press conference after the NATO summit and Ukraine is now exporting electricity to the EU. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
8:08 a.m .: Petro Andryushchenko, advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, wants to expropriate refugee residents of the port city in the future. According to the portal “The New Voice of Ukraine”, every citizen whose housing is destroyed should be accommodated in an apartment of refugees. Anyone who does not claim their property within three months will be expropriated. Otherwise, this would immediately go to the city conquered by the Russians.
6:32 a.m .: The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has distanced itself from controversial statements by its ambassador in Germany. Andriy Melnyk had denied that there was evidence of the mass murder of Jews by supporters of Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera in World War II. “Bandera was not a mass murderer of Jews and Poles,” said Melnyk in the video interview with journalist Tilo Jung that was published on Thursday night. He would confirm this again and again, according to the Ukrainian ambassador in Germany.
In a statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has now turned its back on Melnyk and clarified: “The opinion expressed by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, in an interview with a German journalist is his own and does not reflect the position of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.”
Among other things, Melnyk pointed out that Stepan Bandera, whom he called a “freedom fighter”, was arrested by the Germans just under a week after the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and taken to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Born in 1909 in what was then Polish Galicia, Bandera was murdered in Munich in 1959 by a Soviet agent. According to Melnyk, the character Banderas was deliberately demonized by the Soviet Union.
5:05 a.m .: According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine has started to export electricity to the EU. “An important stage in our rapprochement with the European Union has been reached,” said Zelenskyy in a video message on Thursday evening. Ukraine “has started to export electricity to the territory of the EU through Romania in a significant way.” This is “only the first stage. We are preparing an increase in deliveries.”
“Ukrainian electricity can replace a significant part of the Russian gas consumed by Europeans,” said the President. “It’s not just about export earnings for us, it’s a matter of security for all of Europe.”
Ukraine was connected to the European power grid in mid-March. Before the Russian war of aggression against the country began on February 24, the Ukrainian grid was synchronized with the Russian grid.
On Thursday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter that Ukraine could now export electricity to the EU market. “It will provide the EU with an additional power source. And Ukraine’s much-needed revenue. That’s why we both benefit.”
Friday, July 1, 4:50 a.m.: The Russian withdrawal from Snake Island puts Ukraine in a better position, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Snake Island is a strategic point and that significantly changes the situation in the Black Sea,” he said on Friday night. This significantly restricts the Russian military’s freedom of action, even if this does not guarantee security.
Russia occupied Snake Island shortly after attacking Ukraine on February 24. The fact that the few Ukrainian soldiers in front of it obscenely recommended the later sunk Russian cruiser “Moskva” to go to hell made the small island famous and boosted the morale of the Ukrainians. The reconquest of the island is also a symbolic success for them. Zelenskyy said that in this way the Russian troops would be pushed out of the entire Ukrainian territory.
According to the Ukrainian military, Snake Island allows control over parts of Ukraine’s coast and shipping lanes. With the withdrawal of the Russians from the island, the area around the port city of Odessa need not fear a landing of Russian units.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that it was leaving the island as a sign of goodwill, but the Ukrainian military replied that a series of artillery and air strikes had driven the occupiers away. Ukraine also sees this as confirmation that it can be militarily successful against Russian troops with more modern weapons.
10:20 p.m .: Russia will apparently soon be able to carry out transports to the Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad again. As reported by “Spiegel”, the EU Commission has agreed on a paper. The content: Russia is allowed to deliver goods back to the exclave, but only in quantities that were delivered before the start of the war. In individual cases, such as for repairs, this amount may also be exceeded. According to the report, a special permit from the EU is then required.
In mid-June, Lithuania banned the rail transit of some goods across its territory to the area around Kaliningrad – formerly Koenigsberg – that are on Western sanctions lists. Russia criticized the restrictions as “illegal” and threatened countermeasures.
6:34 p.m .: The NATO countries want to provide more than 20 billion euros for joint spending by the end of 2030. An agreement reached at the Madrid summit provides for the NATO budget to increase significantly every year, as several participants from the German Press Agency confirmed on Thursday.
The additional funds should make it possible to invest more money in moving equipment to the eastern flank and in military infrastructure. In addition, there should also be more funds for exercises and cyber security and the promotion of partnerships with friendly third countries.
According to the information, the civilian and military budgets are to be increased by 10 percent each year from 2023 onwards, and that for the NSIP security and investment program by as much as 25 percent. According to NATO calculations, almost 45 billion euros would then be available for the period from 2023 to 2030. Without the increase, it would only have been around 20 billion euros.
4:20 p.m .: According to the Reuters news agency, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Volodymyr Selenskyj. A possible Steinmeier visit to Kyiv was also an issue. A few weeks ago, Ukraine caused a diplomatic scandal because a Steinmeier visit to the country had been rejected. At the beginning of May, Selenskyj and Steinmeier called again and cleared up irritations.
2 p.m.: This is the end of the Scholz Pk. Thank you for reading along.
1:58 p.m.: A journalist wants to know what point must be reached for Putin to stop the war. “Nobody knows that. One also wonders who his advisors are and whether they are among the living.” According to the Chancellor, these are “terrible violations of all the rules that we have in common”. “This is a terrible war and it doesn’t make sense from a Russian point of view either. One can only say: let it be.”
1:57 p.m .: “You can trust that the weapons deliveries are going well,” says Scholz. “As soon as the training was finished, the self-propelled howitzers were in Ukraine,” says Scholz.
1:52 p.m .: Now it’s about the gas. Scholz is asked if he fears that Russia will turn off the tap on Nord Stream 1 completely. The Chancellor replies that he has been working with his cabinet since December to answer the question of how to respond to dependence on Russian gas. Many measures have already been taken. “Obviously we hope we are being overly cautious. But we also have to prepare for the difficult cases and we do that.”
1:51 p.m .: Scholz is asked if he can assure that Ukraine will get enough weapons to stop Russia. “We are committed to supporting Ukraine,” replies Scholz.
1:48 p.m .: “We obviously have to assume that Russia has come to terms with the accession of Finland and Sweden,” Scholz reiterated. The summit heard that from Putin.
1:46 p.m .: Scholz is asked how quickly the 300,000 soldiers should be ready for action. “It’s a constant growth that’s already taking place.” The idea that you can plan for a long time has proven to be wrong.
1:44 p.m .: Putin’s statement that NATO is engaged in “imperialism” is simply “ridiculous,” said Scholz.
1:42 p.m .: Scholz believes that the population has definitely arrived, that the “turn of the era” is also “broadly supported and supported” by the population and the logic behind the decisions by the Germans.
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