The essentials in brief:
- Zelenskyj: Putin responsible for deportations
- USA: Sweden would also strengthen NATO
- UN campaigns for grain deal
- Moldova is pushing for EU membership by 2030
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “historic decision” by the International Criminal Court (ICC). “The leader of a terrorist state” and another Russian official (Putin’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Alexeyevna Lwowa-Belowa, ed. editor) are now officially suspects in a war crime, Zelenskyj said in Kiev.
The court in The Hague had issued the arrest warrant for kidnapping children. According to the Ukrainian government, more than 16,000 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia or Russian-controlled areas since February last year. Zelenskyy has long complained that children are being robbed of their Ukrainian identity through re-education and indoctrination.
“Separating children from their families, depriving them of any possibility of contact with their loved ones, hiding them on Russian territory, distributing them to distant regions – all this is obviously Russian state policy, they are state decisions, it is state evil ” Zelenskyy said in a new video message. Responsible for this is the first man in the state, Putin.
Russia, on the other hand, denies war crimes and emphasizes that the children were taken to safety before the war. The Kremlin called the ICC “meaningless”. You will not cooperate with the court. Russia is “not a contractual partner” of the ICC and has “no obligations” towards it.
Bushman for “rigorous prosecution”
The German Justice Minister Marco Buschmann (FDP) has described the arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin as an “important signal of determination”. In addition, it is important to continue to think about other models, “how we implement consistent criminal prosecution, for example with a special tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggressive war,” Buschmann told the editorial network Germany (RND). There is a close exchange on these questions with the international partners and the institutions already investigating, for example next Monday at a conference of justice ministers in London. “We are all united by the will to react decisively to the terrible crimes in Ukraine,” assured Buschmann.
USA: Sweden would also strengthen NATO
The United States has welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s approval of Finland joining NATO. At the same time, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said: “We encourage Turkey to ratify Sweden’s accession protocols as soon as possible.” Sweden and Finland are “strong, capable partners who share NATO’s values, strengthen the alliance and contribute to European security”. Sullivan stressed that the two Nordic countries should become NATO members “as soon as possible”.
Erdogan gave the go-ahead for Finland to join NATO after months of delays. However, Turkey continues to block Sweden’s membership and is demanding that the government in Stockholm take tougher action against Kurdish activists in the country, whom the leadership in Ankara considers terrorists. Nevertheless, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was optimistic: “I am confident that Sweden will soon be admitted and I will work hard for it.”
UN campaigns for grain deal
Shortly before a necessary extension of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea, the United Nations are working flat out to find a solution. UN emergency aid coordinator Martin Griffiths told the UN Security Council in New York that everything would be done to ensure continuity and that the parties involved were in contact with Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
The current regulation expires this weekend. Russia only wants to allow grain exports for another 60 days, while Ukraine is demanding 120 days.
After the war of aggression against Ukraine began a good year ago, the Russian Navy also blocked ports in the neighboring country. The agreement on the Black Sea Grain Initiative was mediated by the United Nations and Turkey in July 2022 and provides for the release of Ukrainian ports for grain exports, among other things.
A freighter on the “grain corridor” off Odessa
Progress has been made in implementing a parallel agreement to export Russian food and fertilizers, but there are still hurdles, particularly with regard to payment systems, Griffiths said. Moscow complains that Western sanctions are hampering the export of Russian products. In addition, Russia intends to re-use its pipeline for ammonia through Ukraine, which is currently not in operation.
Moldova is pushing for EU membership by 2030
Moldova’s President Maia Sandu is aiming for her country’s EU membership by 2030. “The EU is our only chance to build a country where citizens can decide their fate,” Sandu said in the capital, Chisinau. She again accused Russia of wanting to destabilize her country. “Only threats and blackmail come from the Kremlin” as well as “war, suffering and poverty”.
The small ex-Soviet republic with a population of 2.6 million has made a pro-Western turn in recent years, angering the Kremlin. In June 2022, Moldova was granted EU candidate status. In the breakaway region of Transnistria, a narrow strip of land on the border with Ukraine, has a Russian-speaking majority. In addition, around 1,500 soldiers of the Russian army are stationed there.
Directly borders Ukraine: Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova
Major Archbishop sees Pope as “referee”
Thanks to mediation by the Vatican, thousands of prisoners of war have been released, according to the Archbishop of Kiev. Nevertheless, the neutrality of the Pope and the Vatican is not really accepted by the Ukrainian population, Svyatoslav Shevchuk told the Croatian weekly Glas Koncila. In Ukraine, everyone expected Francis to unequivocally condemn Russia as an aggressor, the Archbishop added: “But as Catholics, we must constantly explain to our Orthodox brothers, other Christians and ordinary citizens: let the Holy Father do his duty as the supreme arbiter.” After all, everyone benefits from it.
wa/ust (dpa, afp, rtr, kna)
This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from the combat zones cannot be independently verified.