The President of Ukraine is in Germany for the first time since the Russian invasion
Vladimir Zelenskyy is in Germany for the first time since the war-bega: a joint visit between the Ukrainian president and the head of state
Germany has become one of the biggest suppliers of weapons to Ukraine, including Leopard 1 and 2 battle tanks, and the IRIS-T SLM air-defense system. If the counteroffensive by the Ukrainians succeeds it will be due to modern Western hardware.
Zelenskyy first met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s head of state, who was snubbed by Kyiv last year, apparently over his previous close ties to Russia, causing a chill in diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Germany.
After meeting Scholz and other senior officials at the chancellery, the two leaders are expected to fly to the western city of Aachen for Zelenskyy to receive the International Charlemagne Prize awarded to him and the people of Ukraine.
Organizers say the award recognizes that their resistance against Russia’s invasion is a defense “not just of the sovereignty of their country and the life of its citizens, but also of Europe and European values.”
Zelenskyy said he is working to make Germany the biggest donor in terms of aid to Ukraine, which is second only to the United States.
It is his first visit to Berlin since the start of the war and comes a day after the German government announced a new package of military aid for Ukraine worth more than 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion), including tanks, anti-aircraft systems and ammunition.
The Ukrainian president is traveling to allies in order to purchase more weapons to help his country fight off the Russian invaders and also to get the funds to rebuild what has been destroyed.
BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Sunday that his country is preparing a counteroffensive designed to liberate areas occupied by Russia, not to attack Russian territory.
He said that they didn’t have time or strength to attack Russia. With which we can do this, we don’t have weapons to spare.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/14/1176057374/ukraines-president-zelenskyy-is-in-germany-for-the-first-time-since-the-war-bega
Nuclear Warheads in Russia and the Status of Cold War in the Context of the European Central Bank and the Kremlin Era
There has been some speculation that Ukraine may try to capture areas in Russia proper and use them as bargaining chips during peace negotiations to end the war.
Zelenskyy said during a news conference with the German chancellor that Ukraine wanted to free the territories within its internationally recognized borders.
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Britain hosted the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine, which won last year but could not host this time because of the ongoing war. Swedish singer Loreen won.
Russia now has about 5,889 nuclear warheads, the Federation of American Scientists estimated in a report. It said some of the weapons are in storage headed for retirement but many are assigned for long- or shorter-range use.
The longest battle of the war in Ukraine between Russia and Nazi Germany: a CNN town hall interview with Donald Trump and the Commission to Protect Journalists
Donald Trump said during a CNN town hall that he’d end the war inUkraine quickly if elected, without committing to help. The preview of the stark choice that U.S. voters could face in the election next year compared to the staggering amount of aid to Ukraine by the Biden Administration was set up. Zelenskyy dismissed concerns about potentially losing American support.
The longest battle of the war happened at the site of Bakhmut, where the Ukrainians took back part of the city. Ukrainian military commanders said they had taken back more than a mile of Russian territory in the past week.
Putin tried to link the conflict in Ukraine with the 70th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in an address on Victory Day.
The British gave Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine and they were used to push back Russian forces, according to Ben Wallace.
Zelenskyy said his country needs more time to launch a planned counteroffensive until more promised Western military aid arrives, in an interview with a European broadcasters’ network earlier last week.
Arman Soldin, a video journalist with Agence France-Presse, was killed by rocket fire near eastern Ukraine’s embattled city of Bakhmut. French prosecutors opened a war crimes investigation. 15 media workers have been killed in the 14 months that have passed since the start of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/15/1174956698/russia-ukraine-war-news
Predictions for the European Union – Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy’s visit to Italy, Germany, France and the United Kingdom
Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy took a whirlwind Europe tour, visiting Italy and the Vatican, Germany and France last week, and on Monday Britain. He was awarded a Charlemagne Prize for promoting European unity, after meeting with Pope Francis, and secured more military aid for Ukraine. He came to the United Kingdom for the second time this year.
NATO head Jens Sneltenberg and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will speak at the Democracy Summit in Copenhagen, which will discuss the war in Ukraine and other topics.
The government of China is sending a special envoy to visit Russia, as well as Poland, France, Germany and others, in order to reach out to those countries for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
