Ukraine war in Newsblog | Wagner boss took action against journalist

Day 337 since the beginning of the war: The USA is probably considering delivering Abrams tanks after all. Switzerland could soon release ammunition. All information in the news blog.

4.50 p.m.: The British government is said to have enabled the sanctioned head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to take legal action against a British journalist. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced an investigation into the case. The foreign policy spokesman for the opposition party Labor, David Lammy, spoke in Parliament of a “release for a warlord”.

The case happened in 2021. The Ministry of Finance, which was headed by Sunak at the time, was responsible. According to a report by the news site “Open Democracy,” the responsible department issued special licenses that Prigozhin could use to circumvent the sanctions against himself. According to this, among other things, a British law firm was allowed to work for Prigozhin and to prepare a defamation lawsuit against the founder of the investigative group “Bellingcat”, Eliot Higgins.

At that time, Great Britain had already issued sanctions against Prigozhin, who was known for his closeness to Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. The case was not pursued after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine. Sunak stressed that Britain is a leader in imposing sanctions on people associated with the Kremlin. The Ministry of Finance wants to review the procedures for such requests.

1.50 p.m.: Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejects the delivery of fighter jets and combat troops to Ukraine. Like US President Joe Biden, he made this clear months ago in the debate about a no-fly zone. It stays that way, said the SPD politician on Wednesday in Berlin.

1:48 p.m.: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomes the planned delivery of German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. “At a critical moment in the Russian war, you can help Ukraine defend, win and assert itself as an independent nation,” the Norwegian said on Twitter on Wednesday. He welcomes the leadership of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany.

1:32 p.m.: The federal government has not received any further applications from partner states to transfer Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin. However, he expects the partners to comment on this in the “coming hours and days”. Poland’s application was received on Tuesday.

1.30 p.m.: Finland will join the group of states providing tanks to Ukraine, according to Defense Minister Mikko Savola. “International cooperation on the delivery of leopards to Ukraine is now progressing and Finland will participate in it,” he told journalists. He declined to comment on the exact scope. But his country’s contribution will be limited.

1:28 p.m.: According to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the first Leopard main battle tanks from Germany could be in Ukraine in about three months. The SPD politician said on Wednesday after a meeting of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee in Berlin. The training is now beginning very quickly and the supply routes will be clarified very quickly.

Pistorius called the decision to deliver the tanks “historic” because it was coordinated, in a “highly explosive situation in Ukraine.” But he also said: “That’s no reason to celebrate”, he had great understanding for those who were worried. “But one thing is clear, we won’t become a party to the war, we will see to that.”

1:06 p.m.: The Russian ambassador in Berlin, Sergey Nechayev, has described the German government’s decision to deliver Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine as “extremely dangerous”. This will “take the conflict to a new level of confrontation,” Nechayev said on Wednesday in the online service Telegram. The West finds itself in a logic of “permanent escalation”.