Olaf Scholz was meant to also visit Jordan and the West Bank, but has canceled those visits and will only be in the region for one day
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will arrive in Israel for a snap visit on Wednesday amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
While refraining from directly criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two billionaires, Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska, issued a call for peace in Ukraine and a cessation of violence
Jewish billionaires Mikhail Fridman and Oleg Deripaska have become the first Russian oligarchs to publicly express unhappiness with President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, calling for “peace” and an end to the “bloodshed.”
Regional alignments solidify after the invasion of Ukraine, as Iraqi politicians call for peace while four-way collaboration on dealing with the Islamic State and border security continues with Russia, Iran and Syria.
Hours after the news broke that Russia had begun an invasion of Ukraine at dawn on Feb, 24, Iraq’s national security advisor took part in a meeting of a four-nation joint intelligence center that Western nations have long eyed warily.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has chided NATO for failing to do more for Ukraine but remains averse to antagonizing Russia.
Faced with a tough balancing act, Turkey has been sending mixed signals on its position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has angered Moscow by developing military ties with Kyiv, has called for NATO action on the one hand, while stressing the importance of preserving ties with Russia on the other.
The success of Turkish-made drones in Ukraine is the most obvious sign of Ankara’s backing for Kyiv, but fear of Russian backlash is making Turkey tread lightly.
Imagery of a burned-out Russian military convoy in Ukraine shared on social media over the weekend credited its destruction to Turkish-made drones.
Russian forces shelled Ukraine’s second-largest city on Monday, rocking a residential neighborhood, and closed in on the capital, Kyiv, in a 17-mile convoy of hundreds of tanks and other vehicles, as talks aimed at stopping the fighting yielded only an agreement to keep talking.
NATO member Turkey changed its rhetoric to call Russia’s assault on Ukraine a “war” on Sunday and pledged to implement parts of an international pact that would potentially limit the transit of Russian warships from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, Reuters reported.
The U.S. and allies on Saturday attempted to slam the brakes on Russia’s economy and banking systems by expelling selected Russian banks from the global bank-to-bank payment system known as SWIFT, the next step in a series of increasing sanctions punishing President Vladimir Putin for his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
Germany – Federal Government
Sunday, 27 February 2022
Translation of advance text
Madam President,
Distinguished colleagues,
Fellow citizens,
Russian nuclear deterrent forces are on high alert ahead of an emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly on Monday called to increase diplomatic pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.