12:57 p.m .: Pope calls for joint peace work from Moscow Patriarch Cyril
In a letter, Pope Francis called on the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to work together for peace in Ukraine. “May the Holy Spirit transform our hearts and make us true peacemakers, especially for war-torn Ukraine,” wrote the head of the Catholic Church to Moscow Patriarch Cyril on the occasion of Orthodox Easter celebrated by the faithful on Sunday. The 85-year-old Argentinian spoke of a “new dawn” that the people of Ukraine wanted and that would put an end to the “darkness of war”. Cyril is considered loyal to the Kremlin. In his sermons, the 75-year-old supported Russia’s war policy.
12.50 p.m .: Russian Deputy Foreign Minister says he wants a peaceful solution for Transnistria
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko has said he is in favor of a peaceful solution to the dispute over the breakaway region of Transnistria in the Republic of Moldova. From Russia’s point of view, there are no risks there, the Interfax news agency quoted Rudenko as saying. Earlier, Russian state news agencies quoted a senior Russian military official as saying that complete control of southern Ukraine would give Russia access to Transnistria. Transnistria is a narrow strip of land in Moldova held by pro-Russian separatists, bordering Ukraine.
12:32 p.m .: Moscow announces ceasefire at Azov steel plant in Mariupol and agrees to evacuate civilians
Moscow has announced a ceasefire in the area around the Azov steelworks in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol for today. Russian troops would “cease all combat operations” and “withdraw their units to a safe distance” to ensure civilians are evacuated, the Defense Ministry in Moscow said. The civilians would be taken “in any direction they chose”. The Ukrainian side should make clear its “readiness” for the ceasefire “by hoisting white flags” on the site of the steel mill, the ministry added.
Last week, Russia declared that the strategically important port city on the Sea of Azov was completely under Russian control – with the exception of the steel works.
12:19 p.m .: Lithuania proposes EU sanctions against Moscow Patriarch
The Lithuanian government is campaigning for EU sanctions against the Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril I because the head of the church supports the war against Ukraine. The Lithuanian proposal is currently being discussed, said Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, according to the public broadcaster LRT. There is still no final answer as to whether sanctions could be imposed on Cyril I.
The conservative politician said in an interview with a Lithuanian online portal at the weekend: “I think this person is more concerned with killing souls than saving them.” Cyril I blessed Russia’s war and “the horror” happening in Ukraine.
The Russian Orthodox Church protested against the Lithuanian initiative. “The imposition of sanctions on religious leaders is nonsense, it goes against common sense,” her spokesman Vladimir Legoida told the Russian news agency Interfax. Foreign ministers like Landsbergis have the task of “always maintaining communication channels, but not destroying the last possibilities”. In the meantime, it has become known that Patriarch Cyril I will not be coming to Karlsruhe for the world ecumenical meeting in the summer.
12.06 p.m .: Vice President of the EU Parliament Barley (SPD) sees the Ukraine war as a “litmus test” for Europe
Europe has always been strong in crises. This was already proven by the Corona crisis and is now also becoming apparent through the Ukraine war. The European Union is coming together again as a result of the war and can be seen as a “litmus test” for Europe, said SPD European politician Katharina Barley at phoenix. Because here it becomes particularly clear “who is where,” said the Vice President of the European Parliament.
However, Katharina Barley is concerned about Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who, as a friend of Putin, is trying to prevent further European sanctions. His relationship with Putin makes him “our problem child”.
The SPD is also having difficulties with its “Putin policy” in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election campaign. This could prove to be the “Achilles’ heel” if former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder failed to distance himself. But according to Barley, “Schröder no longer represents the SPD. The SPD is a self-critical party […]. Nobody needs to worry about a self-critical reflection process, that takes place in social democracy.”
11.50 a.m .: The federal government wants to decide “promptly” on Marder tanks for Ukraine
The federal government will decide “immediately” on the delivery of 100 Marder armored personnel carriers to the Ukraine requested by Rheinmetall. That says government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin.
11:29 a.m .: Moscow denies plans for a secession referendum in southern Ukraine
The Russian Foreign Ministry has denied plans that Moscow was planning a referendum on the secession of the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson. “I haven’t heard anything about that,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko on Monday at a press conference when asked by journalists. Speculations about the preparation of such a referendum as on the Crimean peninsula in 2014 or in the separatist republics in the Donbass have increased recently. Among other things, leaflets with corresponding calls are said to have appeared in the Cherson region.
11:27 a.m .: Poland’s border guard has almost three million entries from Ukraine
Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine, a good 2.94 million people have fled to safety in neighboring Poland. This was announced by the Polish border guard on Twitter on Monday. On Sunday, however, significantly fewer people came from the neighboring country than in the previous days: 9,800 – more than a third less than the day before.
11,800 people crossed the border towards Ukraine on Sunday. According to the authorities, the majority of these were Ukrainian citizens. They mostly travel to areas that the Ukrainian army has recaptured. There is no official information on how many of the war refugees stayed in Poland and how many traveled on to other EU countries. Before the Russian invasion on February 24, Ukraine had a population of more than 44 million.
11.20 a.m .: Steinmeier cancels participation in the Federal Press Ball – event in the context of the Ukraine war
Against the background of the Ukraine war, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has canceled his participation in this year’s Federal Press Ball. In a statement available to AFP to the federal press conference hosting the ball, the Office of the Federal President wrote that Steinmeier “expressly welcomes the great solidarity of German society with Ukraine” and is happy to participate in the ball’s fundraising campaign for Reporters Without Borders. But: “The Federal President would like to refrain from participating in the Federal Press Ball this year.”
10.45 a.m .: Russia – Have bombed a refinery in Kremenchuk, Ukraine
Russia says it has attacked the Kremenchuk oil refinery in Ukraine. “High-precision long-range weapons destroyed fuel production facilities at an oil refinery on the northern outskirts of Kremenchuk, as well as storage facilities for petroleum products that refueled military equipment for Ukrainian troops,” the Defense Ministry in Moscow said.
According to the Moscow military report, 19 further rocket attacks were directed against military targets in Ukraine on Monday night. The Russian forces claimed to have destroyed each of these targets. Six military targets in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkiv were destroyed by rocket launches from aircraft. Since Sunday, Russian artillery has fired on almost 970 targets. These Moscow statements on the war were not verifiable.
The Ukrainian military administration of the Poltava region announced that nine rockets hit the Kremenchuk refinery and thermal power station on Sunday evening. There is considerable damage to buildings, but the fires that have broken out have been contained, wrote the head of administration Dmytro Lunin on Telegram. One person was killed and seven others were injured.
10:15 am Blinken and Austin announce further US military aid to Ukraine
Die According to the US government, Ukraine can win the war against Russia with sufficient military support. “They can win if they have the right equipment and the right support,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Monday after a visit to Kyiv. During a visit to Kyiv on Sunday, Pentagon chief and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a gradual return of US diplomats to Ukraine and further military aid.
The country has already “lost many military capabilities” and lost many soldiers as a result of the war, the minister added. “We want Russia to be weakened to the point where it’s no longer capable of something like invading Ukraine.”
Austin and Blinken met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sunday evening. The two US ministers pledged additional military aid of 700 million dollars (650 million euros). About $300 million of that will be used to buy arms for the Ukrainian armed forces. The rest is to go to Ukraine’s regional allies, who have been providing aid to the country and need to replenish their weapon stocks.
In addition, US diplomats are to gradually return to Ukraine, as a high-ranking official at the US State Department said on Monday night. For security reasons, Washington’s visit by the two US ministers was only confirmed after Austin and Blinken had left Ukrainian sovereign territory.
10:02 a.m .: Esken calls on Schröder to leave the SPD
SPD leader Saskia Esken has asked former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to leave the party. “His defense of Vladimir Putin against the accusation of war crimes is downright absurd,” Esken said on Deutschlandfunk on Monday. When asked whether Schröder should leave the SPD, she replied: “He should.” Esken also pointed out that there were several applications for Schröder to be excluded from the party, which would be processed in accordance with the SPD statutes.
“Gerhard Schröder has only acted as a businessman for many years, and we should stop seeing him as an elder statesman, as a former chancellor,” said Esken. “He earns his money working for Russian state companies.”
In an interview with the “New York Times” published over the weekend, Schröder spoke about his commitment to Russian corporations – and refused to end his work at this point in time. All he said was that he would “resign” if Russia decided to stop supplying energy to Germany, he said.