Ukraine war in Newsblog | Kremlin accuses West of lacking will to negotiate

Day 362 since the beginning of the war: Defense Minister Boris Pistorius demands that Ukraine must win the war. Macron warns against ‘smashing Russia’ All information in the news blog.

01:33: French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron is wasting his time seeking dialogue with Russia, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “It will be an unsuccessful dialogue. In fact, Macron is wasting his time. I have come to the conclusion that we are unable to change the Russian position,” Italian daily Corriere della Sera quoted as saying Zelenskyj’s reaction to Macron’s statement that the conflict must be settled through negotiations.

“If they have decided to isolate themselves in the dream of rebuilding the old Soviet empire, there is nothing we can do about it. It is up to them to decide for or against working with the community of nations on the basis of mutual respect”. He also dismissed any suggestion that it was Western sanctions that drove Russian President Vladimir Putin into isolation. “It was rather the decision to start the war that marginalized Putin,” said Zelenskyy.

12:04 a.m.: The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl (SPD), is pushing for long-term financial commitments from politicians for the armaments industry and a simplification of the award procedure. “The industry now has to build up production capacities as quickly as possible, and for this they also need commitments from politicians that this will be financed – beyond the federal budget for 2024,” Högl told the editorial network Germany (RND).

In any case, the defense budget must be increased by ten billion euros beyond the 100 billion special fund. “We need the money, but also better processes and structures. Everything has to go much faster.” This applies to the new procurement and the replacement of the device that will be handed over to Ukraine. “We have to simplify the legal hurdles, the legal provisions. It starts with European public procurement law.” Procurement problems exist in all European member states. The armaments company Airbus alone is currently waiting for export permits from the federal government worth several billion euros.

10:20 p.m.: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed new sanctions on Russia’s financial sector in a bid to weaken the aggressor’s wartime economy. Accordingly, not only representatives of the banking system in Russia are subject to punitive measures, but also the Moscow Stock Exchange. “Today our state is taking a new sanctions step against all those who feed Russian aggression,” said Zelenskyj in his video speech distributed every evening in Kiev on Sunday. The sanctions are the basis for allies in the West to also issue such punitive measures.

Zelenskyy reminded that with a view to the anniversary of the beginning of the Russian war of aggression this Friday, the tenth package of sanctions is already in the works. “We are working with our partners to strengthen it,” said the head of state. In addition, the foreign ministers of the European Union want to meet in Brussels this Monday. Zelenskyj demanded that every responsible state should join the “sanctions against terror”.

21 clock: According to the authorities, a 12-year-old girl was killed by artillery fire from the Ukrainian side in the Russian border region of Belgorod. The governor of the Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, announced on Sunday that the girl was fatally wounded by a bullet in a village in the region. Independent media reported that several houses and cars were damaged in the shelling. According to Gladkow, there was also shelling in other towns in the area, some of which hit electrical lines.