Ukraine live blog: ++ Scholz against German troops in Ukraine ++

Chancellor Scholz has ruled out sending German ground troops to Ukraine for the time being. According to NATO estimates, Russia is supporting North Korea’s nuclear program in return for troops in Ukraine. The developments in the live blog.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is currently ruling out sending German ground troops to Ukraine. This is “out of the question,” said Scholz during the government survey in the German Bundestag. He agrees with Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on this.

Baerbock did not indicate otherwise in a statement on Tuesday. Scholz explained that the minister was asked whether sending German troops would be possible after a ceasefire in Ukraine. Baerbock tried to “give a diplomatic answer” to this hypothetical question, says Scholz.

A Russian court has accused a man on Moscow’s annexed Crimean peninsula of spying for Ukraine and sentenced him to 15 years in prison for treason. The court found that the man had offered to cooperate with a representative of the Ukrainian secret service, the Moscow-led public prosecutor’s office said on the Telegram online service. “He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 15 years in prison,” it said.

According to the information, the 45-year-old passed on the locations of Russian air defense units in the city of Kerch in eastern Crimea to the Ukrainian secret service in September last year. The state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the convict worked for the railway before his arrest. The case was heard behind closed doors.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for talks with Ukraine about ways to end the war of aggression started by Russia. His goal is to “develop concepts with Ukraine on how the war can end at some point,” said Scholz in the government questioning in the Bundestag. What is crucial for him is the considerations of Ukraine itself – and “that decisions are not made over Ukraine’s heads.”

It is important to discuss “right now, before this winter,” “what are the plans that Ukraine has,” said the Chancellor. Scholz renewed the promise of German support for the country invaded by Russia. He referred to the massive German arms aid totaling around 28 billion euros so far as “a great sign of solidarity”.

He will “continue to do everything to ensure that there is no further escalation,” especially not in the war between NATO and Russia. Therefore, the federal government will not allow “the dangerous weapons” supplied by Germany to be “fired far into the Russian hinterland” and this also applies to its stance on the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles, which Scholz has so far refused to provide to Ukraine.

NATO has accused Russia of supporting North Korea’s nuclear program. “In return for troops and weapons, Russia supports North Korea in its missile and nuclear programs,” NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said after a two-day alliance foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels. Moscow is violating UN sanctions.

According to Rutte, the development could destabilize the Korean peninsula and even threaten the USA. The foreign ministers of the 32 NATO countries strongly condemned the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea after Rutte’s words. There is a risk that the regime in Pyongyang will direct the missiles against regional partners such as South Korea and Japan, against Europe and even against the United States, the Dutchman warned. NATO had already confirmed the deployment of North Korean soldiers on the Russian border with Ukraine weeks ago

Against the backdrop of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the foreign ministers of NATO countries want to conclude their meeting in Brussels to discuss how to defend against acts of sabotage and cyber attacks from countries such as Russia and China.

The NATO strategy for defending against so-called hybrid threats is also to be revised. According to NATO Secretary General Rutte, these include hacker attacks and blackmail with Russian oil and natural gas deliveries. The aim is, among other things, a greater exchange of intelligence information and better protection of critical infrastructure.

The Czech Republic accuses Russia of being responsible for a large number of covert measures in Europe this year. Up to 100 “suspicious incidents” could be attributed to Russia, says Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky ahead of today’s NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

“This year there were 500 suspicious incidents in Europe. Up to 100 of them can be attributed to Russian hybrid attacks, espionage and influence operations,” says the politician. “We need to send a strong signal to Moscow that this will not be tolerated.”

NATO members agreed after a meeting in Brussels yesterday with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha that providing anti-aircraft systems to protect Ukraine’s infrastructure against Russian attacks must be a priority, Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte told reporters this morning. “Last night there was a clear consensus at the table that supporting Ukraine, especially its infrastructure, must be a priority.” He said he was confident that in the coming days and weeks the allies will ensure that everything they provide to Ukraine can deliver, will also be delivered.

Previously, Sybiha had asked at the meeting for additional anti-aircraft systems such as “Hawk”, “NASAMS” and “Iris-T” to protect Ukraine’s energy supplies.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, there is still no reason for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine. Peskov told the Izvestia newspaper in a statement following comments about possible peace talks that have become more frequent since Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election in November.

“Many countries have expressed their willingness to make their territory available (for negotiations). And we are grateful to all countries for this goodwill, including Qatar.” Since the beginning of the war, Qatar has facilitated several returns of abducted Ukrainian children from Russia to Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling for a comprehensive reinforcement of positions in eastern Ukraine. “The positions around Donetsk need significant reinforcements. This includes, in particular, the delivery of weapons by our partners,” Zelenskyj said in his evening video address. The greater the firepower and technological capabilities of his army, the more it can destroy Russia’s offensive potential and protect the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, he continued. The key to this is more long-range weapons and increasing domestic weapons production.

Former Chancellor Angela Merkel did not initially perceive Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin as a brazen liar. According to the English translation, she said this in an interview with CNN conducted by journalist Christiane Amanpour. At the beginning of her time as Chancellor, Putin did not shamelessly lie, said Merkel. Amanpour asked the former CDU leader how one could negotiate with a liar like Putin.

Referring to Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Merkel said that Putin later confessed that he had lied about it. This was a turning point in her relationship with the Russian president, said the former chancellor. From then on she knew that she had to be careful when dealing with Putin. Putin doesn’t ask what Ukraine wants. Merkel further emphasized that she wanted Ukraine to decide its own fate at some point.

According to the head of the city administration in Novorossiysk, Russia, Russia’s anti-aircraft units repelled a Ukrainian drone attack on the city. “The air defense is deployed in Novorossiysk,” Andrei Kravchenko wrote in his Telegram channel. All emergency services were put on alert. Novorossiysk lies directly on the Black Sea, and the city’s port is one of the most important for oil exports.

Ukraine cannot expect to receive an invitation to join NATO before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20th. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that the alliance is currently concerned with “more military aid and less discussions about what a peace process looks like.” Ukraine must be brought into a “position of strength” before possible negotiations with Russia. Rutte met Trump in Florida about ten days ago.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, however, described NATO membership as a possible element of peace. Ukraine needs “security guarantees that actually work,” emphasized the Green politician in Brussels. “We as Europeans can only protect this peace together,” said Baerbock about considerations for an international troop presence to secure a ceasefire. So far, Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to open the way to peace by “continuing to bomb every day for no reason.”

Ukraine’s foreign minister calls on allies to provide further military aid. NATO Secretary General Rutte sees Russia as having no interest in ending the war. Tuesday’s developments to read.