Scholz wants to continue talking to Putin by phone – the nightly update without photos Tens of thousands again demonstrate in Israel against Netanyahu’s government

Zelenskyi punishes Russia’s wartime henchmen

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has imposed sanctions on 185 companies and individuals who support Russia’s offensive war. Accordingly, companies and entrepreneurs who transport personnel and military technology by train on behalf of the “aggressor state” will be punished, Selenskyj said in his video message published every Saturday evening. The seized available assets benefit national defense, he said.

Belarusian companies supporting Russia in the transports are also on the list published in the evening with 182 companies and 3 individuals. Ukraine is trying to get other states to block the companies’ assets as well. At the same time, Zelensky thanked “everyone who helps to strengthen sanctions against Russia” and the investigators who discovered and prosecuted Russia’s sanctions evasion.

Discussions about Olympic Games

The president once again emphatically demanded that Russia not be admitted to the Olympic Games in Paris next year. As Zelenskyj announced, he wrote to the presidents of leading international sports federations that they should commit to International Olympic Committee (IOC) plans to reintegrate Russian athletes into world sport.

Ukraine threatens to boycott the Paris Games if athletes from Russia or Belarus are allowed there. Belarus is also a war party from Ukraine’s point of view. Zelenskyj had previously emphasized that the Olympic principles were incompatible with war.

No one can ignore that Russia continues its terror every day, Selenskyj said. In the town of Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region, 3 people were killed and 14 others injured in Russian rocket attacks on residential buildings on Saturday. Regarding the prospect of military aid from the West, the president stressed that Ukraine urgently needs longer-range missiles to repel such attacks.

Russia accuses Ukraine of bombing hospitals

The Russian Defense Ministry has accused Ukrainian forces of attacking a hospital in the Luhansk region. The ministry in Moscow announced on Saturday evening that the hospital in Novoaidar had been fired on by a US-type Himar multiple rocket launcher. 14 people were killed and 24 patients and clinic staff were injured. The Luhansk region is largely occupied by Russia. The information could not be independently verified. The ministry did not initially publish any videos or photos of the impact, which is believed to have happened in the morning.

The ministry accused the Ukrainian armed forces of a “deliberate rocket attack” against the civilian hospital, which was a “serious war crime by the Kiev regime”. Authorities initially did not publish any evidence. Those responsible would be found and held accountable.

Chancellor Scholz wants to keep talking to Putin on the phone

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to continue to push for an end to the war against Ukraine in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I will also be on the phone with Putin again – because it is necessary to talk to each other,” the SPD politician told the “Tagesspiegel” (Sunday). As long as Russia continues the war with unabated aggression, the current situation will not change, Scholz said. “But it is important to me that the conversations keep coming back to the main topic: how will the world get out of this terrible situation? The condition for this is clear: the withdrawal of Russian troops.”

In view of new requirements for the supply of fighter jets to Ukraine, Scholz warned of “ongoing outbidding competition” for weapons systems. The issue of combat aircraft is not even addressed. “If, as soon as a decision is made, the next debate starts in Germany, it does not seem serious and damages citizens’ confidence in state decisions,” Scholz stressed, referring to the recent decision to supply main battle tanks to Kiev. He reiterated: “A German chancellor who takes his oath of office seriously must do everything possible to ensure that Russia’s war against Ukraine does not turn into a war between Russia and NATO.” He “will not allow such an escalation”.

During his visit to Latin America, Scholz reiterated that it was a war between Russia and Ukraine. “That will not change if we give Ukraine financial, humanitarian aid or weapons,” the chancellor said at a press conference in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on Saturday evening (local time).

Argentina has no plans to ship weapons to Ukraine

Argentine President Alberto Fernández rejected a possible arms supply from Argentina to Ukraine during Scholz’s visit to South America. “I cannot judge decisions made by other countries,” Fernández said at a joint press conference with Scholz. “Argentina and Latin America are not thinking of sending weapons to Ukraine or any other conflicting country.” But he could assure the Chancellor and he wished most that peace would be restored as soon as possible.

Scholz, who is on a four-day visit to Argentina, Chile and Brazil, had told the media network Grupo de Diarios América that the war in Ukraine was “not a purely European affair”.

That will be important on Sunday

Russian troops and the private army of Putin confidant Yevgeny Prigozhin continue their attacks in the Donbass. You recently spoke of progress and combat successes that cannot be independently verified and that Western experts say Moscow may have exaggerated. Ukraine says it can withstand the attacks. (sda/dpa)