The essentials in brief:
- President Zelenskyj wants better protection at the Belarus border
- Biden: US could offer post-war protection to Ukraine like Israel
- Lavrov talks to Turkish colleague about war in Ukraine
- Steinmeier: Can’t get in the way of the USA when it comes to cluster munitions
During a visit to Lutsk in the north-west of the country near Belarus, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again spoke out in favor of better protection of the state border. The priority is to strengthen the entire northern border, all regions there, he said in his daily video message. This time it was recorded at the castle complex in the old town of Luzk. Selenskyj had informed himself there about the current situation.
After the war began on February 24, 2022, Russian troops also invaded Ukraine from Belarus. Thousands of Russian soldiers are stationed in the country, who mainly use bases there to prepare for combat missions. Experts currently believe that a new attack from Belarus is not very likely. Despite this, the Ukrainian leadership sees Belarus, which supports Russia’s war of aggression, as a party to the conflict and as a threat.
Zelenskyy also wanted to strengthen people’s sense of security with his visit to the region near EU and NATO member Poland. In his video message, he once again thanked the soldiers for their successes on the battlefield.
Biden: US could offer post-war protection to Ukraine like Israel
Ukraine wants to become a NATO member as soon as possible. Now the US President is indicating in which direction new security guarantees from the West could go. According to this, the United States is ready to offer Ukraine similar protection as Israel after an end to the Russian war of aggression. Biden referred the proposal to the period between the end of the war and Ukraine’s possible NATO accession. Before the NATO summit in Lithuania, Biden also emphasized in an interview with the CNN television channel that such a comprehensive protection guarantee would only be conceivable in the event of a ceasefire and a peace agreement.
Starting Tuesday, the summit in Vilnius will focus on how Ukraine can be brought closer to the alliance and what security guarantees it could be given. However, the formal invitation to the alliance desired by Ukraine will probably not come about. Biden and a number of other NATO partners do not yet consider Ukraine ready for accession – also because of the ongoing war. The US President added that an accession process would take time. In the meantime, however, the US could provide Ukraine with the necessary weapons and enable it to defend itself.
Lavrov talks to Turkish colleague about war in Ukraine
Crisis diplomacy on the phone: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish colleague Hakan Fidan exchanged views on food security issues a week before the agreement on shipping Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea expired. During the call, Lavrov said the West was unable to meet Russia’s demands for an extension of the agreement. This was announced by his ministry in Moscow. The grain deal is set to expire on July 17. It came about in the summer of 2022 with the mediation of Turkey and the United Nations.
The leadership in Moscow complains that its conditions for a continuation have not been met. This includes, for example, removing sanctions that prevent Russian exports of grain and fertilizers. The agreement ended a month-long Russian naval blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. The United Nations urged all parties to extend the agreement to ensure global food security.
Steinmeier urges restraint on deliveries of US cluster munitions
In the opinion of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the federal government should accept the delivery of cluster munitions by the USA to Ukraine. The position of the federal government to speak out against cluster munitions is still correct, Steinmeier told the second German television. “But in the current situation, it cannot stand in the way of the United States.” The United States announced on Friday that it would supply cluster munitions to support Kiev in its defensive war against Russia. The Federal President pointed out that in Oslo in 2008, as Foreign Minister for Germany, he had signed the international agreement outlawing cluster munitions. “I’m biased,” he emphasized in an interview.
Steinmeier was open to a fundamental reappraisal of Germany’s relationship with Russia up until the attack on Ukraine in February 2022. “Some things would also be corrected in this reappraisal, namely the impression that it was somehow a kind of naivety or even servility towards Russia was. The opposite is the case.” Not only Germany, but also the USA and many other countries have tried to create a security architecture in Europe that includes Russia. “It didn’t work in the end. We couldn’t do it either.”
One must draw conclusions for the future from this, said Steinmeier. “Security in Europe in the future will no longer be shared security with Russia, but we will protect each other – with immense spending on our defense budgets to provide better protection for Europe, for the Alliance and better protection for our own people in Germany organize.”
SPD leader is currently ruling out Ukraine joining NATO
The admission of Ukraine into NATO before the end of the Russian war of aggression is out of the question for the SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil. “NATO cannot accept Ukraine as long as it is at war, otherwise Germany and the other alliance states would immediately be a war party,” he told the editorial network Germany. However, the summit of the 31 member states of the alliance in Vilnius, Lithuania, this Tuesday and Wednesday will send a clear signal of close military cooperation with Ukraine. Among other things, it is about strengthening the training of Ukrainian soldiers and already introducing Ukraine to NATO standards. And on the question of further arms deliveries to Ukraine, Klingbeil said: “Whatever we can really hand over will be delivered.”
kle/fw (dpa, afp, rtr)
This article will be continuously updated on the day of its publication. Reports from war zones cannot be independently verified.
Source: DW
