The request should again be debated among the allies of the European Union. Kiev has officially asked the German government for the delivery of Taurus-type air-to-ground cruise missiles with a range of at least 500 kilometers, the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday May 27. Due to its range, the Taurus missile (carried by fighter jets) would be able to hit targets far behind the current front line in eastern Ukraine. Germany would not be the first nation to make this decision among Westerners: the United Kingdom recently announced its intention to deliver long-range Storm Shadow missiles to Ukraine.
Although the German government has significantly increased its arms supplies to kyiv in recent months, it has nevertheless been reluctant to respond to several Ukrainian requests. For example about cruise missiles, or aviation support through the delivery of F-16 fighter planes.
In response to its increasingly strong support, Berlin is currently under pressure from Russia: the government announced to AFP on Saturday that several hundred of its civil servants working in particular in the education and culture will have to leave Russia in the coming days, Moscow having decided to drastically reduce the diplomatic presence and German institutions on its territory.
Hospital attacked in Ukraine, drone strike in Russia
Friday, May 26, Ukraine was again emptied by salvoes of Russian missiles, with in particular a clinic affected in Dnipro where at least two people were killed and 30 injured. This strike was denounced by President Volodymyr Zelensky as a “crime against humanity”. Kyiv Municipality also reported overnight a 13th Russian airstrike on the capital since early May, this time with cruise missiles launched by Tu-95 strategic bombers from the Caspian Sea region . On the whole territory, the Ukrainian general staff noted 55 Russian air attacks, one of which notably damaged a dam in the eastern region of Donetsk, posing “a great danger of flooding”.
Russia has also reported for the fifth consecutive day of Ukrainian bombardments on the Russian border region of Belgorod – which has suffered dozens of artillery fire in the last 24 hours according to the local governor – as well as drone strikes in Krasnodar, 200 kilometers from Crimea, and in the Pskov region, near the Belarusian border. These shots caused material damage without causing casualties, according to the authorities.
“Serious obstacles to peace” according to Lavrov
These bombardments take place while Ukraine says it is preparing to launch a major counter-offensive intended to repel Russian troops, after having received multiple deliveries of Western weapons. Another source of tension, Belarus, an ally of Moscow, said Thursday evening that Russia had begun to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory, in accordance with an announcement made in March by Vladimir Putin.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the ongoing conflict with Chinese special envoy Li Hui, who visited Kiev last month. He claimed that Russia wanted a political settlement but that “Ukraine and its Western backers were putting serious obstacles to the resumption of peace talks”. On Friday, May 26, the German government had asked the Chinese envoy to “put pressure” on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
NATO Summit in Vilnius: Ukraine’s accession on the agenda
The NATO summit to be held in July in Vilnius will be devoted “above all” to concrete support for kyiv, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday May 26 in Tallinn. Responding to a question about Ukraine’s possible NATO membership at the summit, the leader said “it will be in Vilnius above all to organize concrete support for Ukraine in this situation”.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas for her part considered that Ukraine’s membership of NATO was essential to guarantee peace. “For peace in Europe, we need a strong and credible geopolitical European Union and a strong and credible NATO. We have seen throughout history how gray areas are breeding grounds for wars, while the enlargement of NATO and the EU has increased stability – the three Baltic states are a living example of this,” she said. Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said he was convinced “that once the war in Ukraine is over, once Ukraine has won this war, Ukraine should and must become a member of NATO. The reason for this is very simple: it is the only way to guarantee that Russia will never restart a war”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg admitted that the members of the alliance were divided on the question of Ukraine’s membership, which will be on the agenda of the Vilnius summit. “On this question, there are different points of view within the alliance”, admitted Jens Stoltenberg during an intervention before the German Marshall Fund, in Brussels, recalling that “decision-making at NATO is done by consensus.
Blinken in Finland to talk war in Ukraine and membership
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Helsinki, Finland, which joined NATO in April, on June 1 and 2 and give a speech in support of Ukraine against Russia, announced on Friday. May 26 the State Department. This visit will follow a meeting of ministers from the three Nordic countries in Sweden, a candidate country for NATO membership. Finland and Sweden, which for decades opted for a strategy of military non-alignment to avoid conflict with Moscow, reconsidered their position and requested membership in the joint defense organization after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Antony Blinken will also go before that to Olso, in Norway, to discuss with the foreign ministers of the allied countries in order to prepare the summit of NATO leaders in Vilnius. Several ex-USSR countries and NATO members hope to obtain official commitments to Ukraine at this summit, even if an offer of membership seems unlikely. The alliance has a mutual protection clause, governed by article 5, which obliges all allies to defend a member in the event of an attack.
Derek Hogan, one of the American officials in charge of European Affairs, said that the United States – NATO’s main military force – was in no hurry to make official promises. “At the moment, Ukraine’s immediate needs are practical, so we must focus on strengthening their defense and deterrence capabilities,” he said.
Brazil: Lula declines Putin’s invitation to visit Russia
Brazilian President Lula declined an invitation to visit Saint Petersburg on Friday, during a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, after his missed meeting with the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky at the summit of the G7. “I thanked (Putin) for his invitation to the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg”, from June 14 to 17, “and replied to him that I could not go to Russia at this time”, tweeted Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “But I reiterated to him that Brazil, like India, Indonesia and China, was ready to dialogue with the two parties to the conflict with a view to achieving peace,” he added.
Unlike several Western powers, Brazil has never imposed financial sanctions on Russia or agreed to supply munitions to kyiv. Brasília is trying to position itself as a mediator. Lula has sparked controversy by repeatedly asserting that the responsibilities for the conflict are shared, even though he recently condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
WHO: Moscow forces vote but Ukraine passes, Pyongyang too
Russia suffered a setback on Friday May 26 by failing to block Ukraine’s entry into the Executive Council of the World Health Organization (WHO), which also saw the arrival of North Korea. The ten countries that eventually join the Executive Board for three years are usually elected en bloc by acclamation during the World Health Assembly, whose 76th session is currently taking place in Geneva.
But due to Moscow’s attempt to prevent Ukraine from joining this forum of 34 member countries, which plays an important role in the governance of the WHO, a vote had to be taken for the first time since 1977. The The result was final, the candidates, nominated by each of the 6 WHO regions, were elected by 123 votes against 13 abstentions.