Russia Selenskyj: Germans are more reluctant than others to provide support
According to information from Kiev, talks with Germany on the use of long-range weapons against targets deep inside Russian territory are proving more difficult than with Ukraine's other partners.
19.10.2024, 05:44
SDA
According to President Volodmyr Zelenskyi, the five most important partners - the USA, Great Britain, France, Italy and Germany - do not have a unified opinion on this demand. There are supporters, "and they also help me in the dialog with the other partners in order to achieve a positive solution," said Selensky in an interview with Ukrainian journalists. However, there is still some reluctance, as this is an "issue fraught with risks", as it involves a package of "very powerful missiles".
The point of discussion with Germany in particular has still not been clarified. "For them (the Germans), this remains the most painful question," said Selenskyj. The fact that the Western partners are having such a hard time with the permission to use the weapons he has been requesting for months is apparently due to the fact that they do not want to "slam the doors shut for good" in their relations with Russia. "At least that's my impression."
Ukraine has so far used long-range combat drones or so-called kamikaze drones, which are guided to their target with an explosive charge, against targets in Russia. However, compared to cruise missiles and long-range missiles, these have little destructive power.
Scholz: NATO must not be dragged into war
EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell recently questioned the restrictions on the use of Western heavy weapons in the war in Ukraine. Ukraine has a right to self-defense in the face of Russian attacks on hospitals and power plants, he said.
Russia's war of aggression was also one of the main topics at the summit meeting between Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the Presidents of the USA and France as well as the British Prime Minister at the Berlin Chancellery on Friday. Scholz and US President Joe Biden assured Ukraine of their solidarity, but were opposed to the central demands in Zelensky's "peace plan" - unconditional invitation to NATO, war on Russian territory and with extensive Western weapons. Scholz emphasized that NATO should not be drawn into the war so that it "does not lead to a much greater catastrophe".
Difficult situation in Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine
Meanwhile, the situation for the defenders of the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on the edge of the Donbass is becoming increasingly difficult in the face of more and more Russian attacks. The administration has called on the civilian population to leave the city. Tank obstacles are already being set up in the residential areas. "The enemy is in the process of gradually destroying the city, just as it did with Bakhmut and Avdiivka," it said in an evacuation appeal.
According to media reports, only just under 12,000 of the original population of around 53,000 still live in the largely destroyed Pokrovsk. Almost half of the city is without electricity.
Pokrovsk and Kurakhove, a little further south, are currently considered to be the largest hotspots on the eastern flanks of the Ukrainian defense lines. In its situation report in the evening, the General Staff in Kiev spoke of the heaviest fighting on these sections of the front.
Fierce fighting was also reported from the area around Kupjansk, east of Kharkiv. In view of the "dynamic nature of the hostilities" and the fact that the front had advanced to within four kilometers of the city limits, the civilian population was once again called upon to leave the city.
Putin accuses Ukraine of unwillingness to negotiate
Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, who ordered the war of aggression in February 2022 and against whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, accused Ukraine of being unwilling to negotiate with Moscow. Zelenskyi repeatedly made demands, but did not make any proposals, Putin said at a meeting with media representatives in the Russian capital. In addition, Zelensky had signed a decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia. The Russian side, on the other hand, was ready for peace talks, as it had been at the beginning of the war, Putin said.
The demands made by both warring parties with regard to peace talks are diametrically opposed. While Russia only wants to talk about the status quo on the fronts, Ukraine is demanding, among other things, the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, including the Crimean peninsula annexed in 2014, as a precondition for talks.
In Kiev, Selensky emphasized that Ukraine wants to negotiate with Moscow from a position of strength. "We always tell our partners that if you want us to talk to the Russians, then strengthen us," he said. "Then we would be on an equal footing, and not just sitting on some chair in the corner." To strengthen us, Selenskyj called for an invitation to join Nato and the release of weapons.
Ukraine receives further financial aid from the IMF
Ukraine is also receiving financial aid from another source. Last year, the International Monetary Fund approved a four-year loan program worth billions for the country. Now Ukraine can call up a further 1.1 billion dollars (1 billion euros), as the IMF announced. The money is to be used to support the national budget.
"Despite the ongoing war, the Ukrainian economy is proving resilient," the IMF explained. All performance targets for the end of June had been met and key structural reforms had been implemented. However, the effects of the war - particularly on the energy infrastructure - remain an uncertainty factor for Ukraine's economic recovery.
