NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as well as leaders of Germany, the U.K., and other European NATO member states, have reportedly said they are not considering deploying their troops to Ukraine after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested the possibility of Western military presence in the country.
Germany has handed over 14,000 155 mm shells, ten Vector reconnaissance drones with spare parts, and other aid in their latest delivery of military aid to Ukraine, the German government said on Feb. 26.
Scholz is reportedly against sending Taurus missiles to Kyiv because he fears the move will draw Germany into the war. Ukraine has received other long-range missiles, such as the Storm Shadow from the U.K. and the French-made SCALP.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed in prison to prevent his exchange with Vadim Krasikov, a convicted Russian hitman sentenced to life imprisonment in Germany, Anti-Corruption Foundation chair Maria Pevchikh claimed on Feb. 26.
Germany is conducting "discreet negotiations" to procure artillery ammunition from India, which is estimated to have "several hundred thousand rounds" stored in stockpiles, Der Spiegel reported on Feb. 25.
The German Foreign Ministry has officially adopted the Ukrainian transliteration of Kyiv, changing the spelling in the official country directory from the Russian transliteration of Kiew to Kyjiw from Feb. 24.
Ukrainian and Western officials gathered in Berlin on Feb. 23 to discuss how to assist Ukraine with investigating Russian war crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, Ukrainian media outlet Ukrinform reported.
"It would be fatal to say he won't do that. You just have to trust him to do that," Strack-Zimmermann said on the Die Wochentester podcast, as reported by German media on Feb. 23.
The German parliament held two votes on providing long-range weapons to Ukraine on Feb. 22, first rejecting a motion explicitly mentioning Taurus missiles, followed by supporting a motion calling for Germany to send additional long-range weapons.
German authorities uncovered a major Russian-Eurasian money laundering network, which facilitated an illegal cash flow of tens of millions of euros, the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Feb. 20.
Eighteen-year-old Ukrainian basketball player Artem Kozachenko died in the hospital on Feb. 20 after being stabbed in Germany alongside his teammate last week, according to the ART Giants basketball club for which both players played.
Key developments on Feb. 20: * Ombudsman asks UN, Red Cross to investigate execution of Ukrainian POWs in Avdiivka * Sweden unveils its largest defense aid package for Ukraine worth $682 million * Death toll of Russian attack on Sumy Oblast rises to 5 * German media: Germany plans to send long-range missile systems,
Germany's coalition parties are preparing a resolution on arming Ukraine that does not explicitly mention Taurus cruise missiles, German media reported on Feb. 20.
Meanwhile, since 2021 Krasnikov has been serving a life sentence for the murder of an exiled Chechen-Georgian dissident, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, in Berlin in 2019. Investigative reports suggested that Krasnikov is an agent of Russian intelligence agencies.
"Attempts to restore Russia's 1991 borders will lead only to one thing - a global war with Western countries with the use of our entire strategic (nuclear) arsenal against Kyiv, Berlin, London, and Washington. And against all other beautiful historic places that have long been included in the flight targets of our nuclear triad," Medvedev said in a reference to the triad of intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and strategic bombers with nuclear weapons.
The German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall signed a memorandum of intent with a Ukrainian company on the production of artillery shells directly in Ukraine, Rheinmetall said on Feb. 17.
"This war is about much more than two states fighting over a territory. This war is about the question of whether we'll allow an imperialist power to impose its will on another state," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
Germany has handed over 3,990 155 mm shells, eight armored personnel carriers, three Wisent demining tanks, and other aid in the latest delivery, the German government said on Feb. 16.
Key developments on Feb. 16: * Commander says no Ukrainian units surrounded in Avdiivka, troops withdraw from strongpoint on city's outskirts * 3rd Assault Brigade says it wiped out 2 Russian brigades at Avdiivka * Prosecutor General: Russia has used 24 North Korean missiles in Ukraine * Germany signs long-term security deal with Ukraine,
There is no new information on the possible provision of Germany's Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 16.
Germany and Ukraine signed an agreement on long-term security cooperation and support, Ukraine's Presidential Office announced on Feb. 16. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the deal with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during his visit to Germany.
The assistance pledged by Bundesweher Inspector General Carsten Breuer includes mine-protected vehicles, explosives for drones, 77 MULTI 1A1 trucks, medical supplies, and spare parts for weapons systems.
Germany plans to "deliver around three to four times as much artillery ammunition" to Ukraine in 2024 as it did in 2023, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said upon arrival to the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels on Feb. 14.
"During my visit, I would also like to focus on the children who have been abducted and taken hostage in Russia," said Katrin Goring-Eckhardt, the vice president of the Bundestag, Germany's parliament.
Carsten Breuer, the inspector general of the German Armed Forces, said that Russia has both the military potential and intention to extend its aggression beyond Ukraine.
The Republican holdup on supporting new aid packages is "close to criminal neglect," U.S. President Joe Biden said as he met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the White House.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he had met with senators from both parties, writing on Twitter that "Ukraine needs all of our support in order to defend itself against Russia’s aggression."
Germany is considering the nationalization of Rosneft Deutschland, a subsidiary of Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft, which has been under the control of the German government since September 2022 in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Reuters reported on Feb. 7, citing sources.
Europe must be more prepared for the U.S. to fail to support Ukraine, regardless of whether Donald Trump is elected president, German Defense Committee Chair Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told German news outlet t-online on Feb. 8.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to visit Germany to participate in the Munich Security Conference at the end of next week, the German outlet Tagesspiegel reported on Feb. 7.
"I welcome the German Bundestag's approval of 7.6 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine in the 2024 budget. I appreciate that our agreements with (Chancellor Olaf Scholz) are being implemented," President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the social media platform X.
Vladimir Sergienko works as an aide to Bundestag AfD member Eugen Schmidt, where he reportedly helps write speeches. In his public capacity, Sergienko reportedly "took direct actions aimed at hampering Ukraine’s defensive efforts, and he took them at his FSB handler’s request."
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