Russia has acknowledged difficulties and mistakes in its war of aggression against Ukraine, but has announced that fighting will continue. “Despite all the difficulties, the military special operation will continue to the end,” Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council Rashid Nurgaliyev said on Wednesday.
Despite the arms deliveries from the West to Ukraine, the operation is continuing. All “tasks – including demilitarization and denazification as well as the protection of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics – will be fully implemented,” said the former interior minister.
The head of the Russian republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus, Ramzan Kadyrov, even spoke of “mistakes” at the start of the February 24 war against Ukraine. “In the beginning there were mistakes, there were some shortcomings, but now everything is 100% according to plan,” Kadyrov said at a political forum. The tasks set by President Vladimir Putin would be fulfilled in full. Kadyrov’s troops are fighting in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk. He said around 200 other volunteers had signed up to work in Ukraine.
The Chechen fighters, who were also deployed in Syria, are notorious for their brutality. Kadyrov, who was notorious as a dictator, also criticized the policy of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who “behaved like a schizophrenic” and not like a “head of state” in view of the western arms deliveries. (dpa)
As part of a ring exchange, Germany wants to deliver 15 Leopard 2 A4 tanks to the Czech Republic – and thereby enable Czech weapons to be transferred to Ukraine. “Czech Republic is supplying heavy weapons, we are helping to close the gaps with Leopard tanks from German industrial stocks,” said Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) on Wednesday in Berlin.
The exchange of rings is a “very good example of how we can quickly and easily support Ukraine in its courageous fight against Russian aggression”. The Czech cabinet approved the exchange procedure on Wednesday. According to information from the Federal Ministry of Defense, the Leopard tanks come from the stocks of the German defense industry. In addition to the tanks, ammunition and spare parts are also to be delivered to the Czech Republic. In addition, the Bundeswehr will support the training of Czech soldiers. The federal government will bear the costs.
The Czech Republic wants to supply Ukraine with heavy weapons from ex-Soviet stocks that Ukrainian soldiers are familiar with. In order to avoid gaps in the Czech Republic’s ability to defend itself, Germany pledged in the exchange of rings “to adequately compensate for this levy,” according to the ministry. It is a “significant” support. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had already announced the exchange of rings with the Czech Republic at the beginning of the month. (AFP)
According to sources, the EU Commission is considering including sanctioned Russian assets in the reconstruction of Ukraine. A corresponding legal basis is being worked on, according to circles of the Brussels authority. The frozen assets of Russian oligarchs would be affected on the one hand, and deposits by the Russian central bank in the European Union on the other.
However, a legal basis is required for confiscation. The legal situation in the Member States is currently still very different. A Europe-wide, criminally watertight line is needed for this, it was said in the circles. In Italy, the possibilities of expropriation are easier than in other member states because of the Mafia laws in force there. There are also examples in Germany, for example in the fight against clan crime. The basis for this is a corresponding court decision.
After an expropriation, the legal basis must also be created in order to be able to channel the money to Ukraine. The Russian central bank has deposits in the EU states with a volume of 300 billion euros. In the case of the assets of the oligarchs, the sum is much lower and at most corresponds to a double-digit billion amount.
The US, on the other hand, is not currently planning to confiscate the frozen assets of the Russian central bank. That would not be legal in the US at the moment, said Finance Minister Janet Yellen in Germany on Wednesday shortly before the meeting of the seven leading industrial nations (G7) in Bonn. On Thursday and Friday, the G7 group at least wants to discuss whether it is possible to go further – for example using the funds for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Yellen said the debate on Ukraine’s longer-term reconstruction was just beginning. In view of the enormous destruction caused by the Russian attack, it was only natural to hold Russia accountable. Moscow would have to bear at least part of the huge costs. According to experts, around five billion euros in external aid per month are needed to keep the Ukrainian state running. The reconstruction of the country after the war is likely to be much more expensive. Some economists are assuming one to two trillion euros. However, the estimates are considered unreliable as long as the war continues. (Reuters)
The Conference of Ministers of Education (KMK) has passed guidelines for informing refugees from Ukraine, which initially apply until the summer holidays. In doing so, the federal states wanted to ensure that they were helping the more than one hundred thousand immigrant children and young people to obtain their right to education, the KMK announced on Wednesday in Berlin. In addition, the requirements for short-term, temporary employment of Ukrainian teachers have been eased.
The Ministers of Education explained that there was a consensus in the federal states that learning the German language and integration into the German school system had priority. The online lessons on the Ukrainian side, according to Ukrainian specifications or with Ukrainian textbooks, should only be seen as an accompanying measure.
“We integrate children and young people quickly into a school environment – this gives the children and young people from Ukraine security and thus some normality during this exceptional situation for them,” said Schleswig-Holstein Minister of Education and current KMK President Karin Prien (CDU). . She is glad that hundreds of Ukrainian teachers have already been deployed. (AFP)
Immediately before the G7 finance ministers’ meeting on the Petersberg near Bonn, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated her call for more financial aid for Ukraine. She will call on the other finance ministers, like the USA, to further increase their support for the country attacked by Russia, the politician said on Wednesday in Königswinter. “They need our help and they need it now.”
With a view to further sanctions against Russia, the US Treasury Secretary emphasized that the aim must be to hit Russia as hard as possible while at the same time minimizing the damage to the rest of the world. The EU has made it clear that it wants to end oil imports from Russia by the end of the year. That still leaves enough time to do it in such a way that no further price jumps are associated with it. Talks about it continued.
At the same time, Yellen called for progress on the desired international minimum tax for large companies. It is about stabilizing the tax systems so that the states can also invest in their security and respond to crises such as the Covid 19 pandemic. (dpa)
