Seventy-eighth day of war in Ukraine. Kiev proposes to Moscow to exchange the seriously wounded fighters in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol with Russian prisoners of war. According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk “there is still no agreement”. Negotiations continue.
Meanwhile, the authorities appointed by the Russian occupiers in Kherson announce their intention to offer Russian passports to everyone. “We will issue passports already this year,” announces the number two of the Russian administration in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, according to reports from the Cnn.
Sweden and Finland, the two Scandinavian nations close to applying for NATO membership, sign defense pacts with Great Britain: according to the agreements signed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, London “would not hesitate to intervene” by sending troops to the two countries in case of Russian aggression.
“War is a challenge for democracy” warns Prime Minister Mario Draghi after meeting with the speaker of the US Chamber, Nancy Pelosi: “It is not only the territorial integrity of Kiev and its sovereignty that are at stake”. On gas supplies, again the Italian premier: “Europe exercises power as a great buyer”. Payment in rubles remains a “gray area”. Worry about inflation.
Zelensky calls on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on weapons and sanctions. According to Foreign Minister Sergej Lavrov “Russia does not want war in Europe, Western countries are declaring that Moscow must be defeated”.
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00.01 – Scholz-Zelensky phone call: concrete exchange of views on assistance in Kiev
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone to find “practical and concrete ways of providing further assistance to Ukraine,” said the Chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit. Zelensky also informed the state chancellor of the intermittent negotiations with Russia, the spokesman added. For his part, Scholz reiterated that Russia must immediately cease hostilities, withdraw troops from Ukraine and restore its territorial integrity. The phone call marks a further overcoming of various tensions between the two countries, after Germany was accused of too tepid support for Ukraine. Last week there had already been a clarifying phone call between Zelensky and German President Frank Walter Steinmeier, whom Kiev initially did not want to welcome on a visit because he was considered too close to Moscow in the past. Zelensky has since invited Scholz and Steinmeier to come to Kiev. And yesterday the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was the first member of the Berlin government to arrive in the Ukrainian capital after the Russian invasion. Training in Germany for 60 Ukrainian soldiers, who will have to learn how to use the Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers, has also begun today. Germany, which initially did not want to send heavy weapons to Ukraine, will now send seven of these track-mounted guns.
Ukraine, dramatic situation in Azovstal: “For us death or imminent capture”
Here’s what happened on Wednesday 11 May