To defend itself against Russia, Ukraine has asked the German government to supply Taurus cruise missiles. A corresponding request from Kiev had come in in recent days, a Defense Ministry spokeswoman said in Berlin Friday night. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he would continue to seek support from his Western partners.
“We will do everything possible and impossible to accelerate the delivery of more and higher quality air defense systems to Ukraine,” the head of state said in his evening video address. This is “a daily affair in the truest sense of the word when working with partners”. His country is making faster progress in modernizing its defenses than expected six months ago.
Details of possible delivery of body to Mars unclear
Details of Kiev’s request to the Ministry of Defense in Berlin are still unclear. For example, the question of how many cruise missile units Ukraine has asked for. The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” had previously reported on Ukraine’s Taurus request. Speaking out in favor of supplies a few days ago, the CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter said: The guided missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers enabled the attacked country “to blow against Russian military infrastructure far behind the front line”.
Scholz assures further support
During a visit to Estonia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured Ukraine of continued assistance in the Baltic countries – for as long as needed. “To say it clearly again, we are ready to defend every square inch of NATO territory against attack,” Scholz said on Friday after meeting his colleagues Kaja Kallas (Estonia), Krisjanis Karins (Latvia) and Ingrida Simonyte ( Lithuania) in Tallinn. “And I mean it just as I say it.”
Lithuania is hosting the upcoming NATO summit in July. “For peace in Europe, we need Ukraine in the EU and in NATO,” said hostess Kallas. The Ukrainian president announced in his video message that his country would take every opportunity to “give real political substance to relations with the Western military alliance”. Ukraine pushes for NATO membership. However, Scholz tempered expectations regarding the meeting: the summit will “mainly be about organizing concrete support for Ukraine in this situation”.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galusin told state news agency TASS on Saturday evening that one of the conditions for peace is that the neighboring country does not join NATO and the EU.
Kiev: Russia fires missiles again at neighboring country
Russia continued its attacks unabated on Friday. By evening, the Ukrainian General Staff counted at least 18 rocket attacks on populated areas around the Kiev and Dnipropetrovsk regions in the country’s southeast. In addition, Russia has used missiles from the S-300 and S-400 systems, which, according to the army’s evening report, are actually intended for air defense. The army also recorded 60 airstrikes – so-called kamikaze drones of the Iranian type Shahed-136/131 were allegedly used.
attempts at peace talks
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said during a phone call with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin that his country, like India, Indonesia and China, is ready for dialogue with both sides in the conflict. China’s special envoy Li Hui was in Moscow on Friday for talks. At the same time, citing an unnamed diplomat, the Wall Street Journal reported that Li Hui should have asked Europe to “cede” the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine to Russia.
Ukraine has repeatedly made it clear that it will not accept this. Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podoljak warned on Twitter that such a scenario would amount to a victory for Russia and a defeat for democracy at the same time. Moscow is urging Ukraine to renounce the occupied territories ahead of possible negotiations.
Former foreign minister Joschka Fischer told the Tagesspiegel: “It will be a painful ceasefire that will not satisfy either side.” And added: “If Putin finally gets confirmation in the direction of Crimea and some corrections in the east and he has to present that as a success domestically, it certainly won’t be easy. Conversely, the Ukrainians will find it very difficult to make territorial compromises.”
That will be important on Saturday
It is eagerly awaiting new information about the situation in the controversial Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Russia announced last weekend that it would take over the completely destroyed city. Ukraine has not yet confirmed this. On Saturday night, Ukraine’s Unian agency reported, citing the army in Kiev, that it “continued to inflict heavy casualties” on Russian forces there. The information from the war zone cannot be independently verified. (sda/dpa)
Soource :Watson
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
