China blames US for war in Ukraine

International

Almost a year has passed since Russia the Ukraine attacked – and fierce fighting is still raging, especially in the east. The focus is on the strategically important cities of Bachmut and Wuhledar. Whoever holds them controls large parts of the Donbass.

Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine are preparing for spring offensives. Germany officially agreed to deliver 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks on Wednesday. Together with Western allies, a total of around 90 leopards are to be made available to Ukraine. The German delivery should arrive in April.

Everything you need to know war in Ukraine you read here

January 30th

10:14 a.m .: China blames the USA for the war in Ukraine

China has blamed the United States for the war in Ukraine. “The USA are the ones who triggered the Ukraine crisis,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told the press in Beijing on Monday. They are also “the biggest factor fueling the crisis”. By making the US heavy and offensive weapons delivered to Ukraine, they only prolonged and intensified the conflict. The People’s Republic China has never condemned Russia’s actions.

Mao Ning made the allegations in response to a question about American allegations that Chinese company possibly supported the Russian side. The spokeswoman spoke of “unfounded suspicions” and “unfounded blackmail”. China will not stand by if the US harms the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.

7:31 a.m .: Heusgen allegation to Scholz: Didn’t make any friends

The head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, has accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of having upset the United States with his behavior in the battle tank debate. The US government would have expected Germany to take the lead with the Leopards – but the Chancellor did not accept it.

Christoph Heusgen has been chairman of the Munich Security Conference since 2022Image: Reuters pool / Annegret Hilse

“The chancellor certainly didn’t make any friends in Washington,” Heusgen told the “Rheinische Post” and the “General-Anzeiger” (Monday). The federal government wants to deliver Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and also allow allies to do so. Critics denounce that this decision was made too hesitantly.

“The US has delivered ten times as many arms to Ukraine as Germany. I don’t know where we Europeans would be in supporting Ukraine without the Americans, or where the Russians would be now,” Heusgen continued. Therefore, he can certainly understand if the American side is upset about it.

12:27 a.m .: At least four dead in attacks on Cherson and Kharkiv

According to Kyiv, there are at least four in Russian air raids on cities in eastern and southern Ukraine People was killed. In the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, three people were killed and six others injured, local authorities said on Sunday. According to the authorities, a woman was killed in a Russian attack on a residential building in Kharkiv.

Four people were also killed in an attack on a railway bridge in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, a Russian official said. He blamed Ukraine for the attack.

At the front Things had recently been much quieter in southern Ukraine than in the east after Moscow withdrew its troops from the city of Cherson in November.

January 29th

1:09 p.m .: Scholz sees “outbidding competition” because of the fighter jet debate

Regardless of the criticism at home and abroad, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) wants to continue his cautious course on arms deliveries to Ukraine. He warns against “entering into a constant outbidding competition when it comes to weapon systems,” Scholz told the “Tagesspiegel” (Sunday edition). He was referring to demands to now also supply fighter jets to Ukraine.

Scholz tried to explain why he didn’t want to be pushed into making quick decisions on the weapon question. “When, as soon as a decision has been made, the next debate begins in Germany, it doesn’t look very serious and shakes the trust of the citizens into government decisions,” he said.

Russia has been waging heavy airstrikes on Ukraine since the beginning of the war.Image: Russian Defense Ministry Press S / Uncredited

5.16 a.m .: Selenskyj punishes Russia’s wartime workers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has imposed sanctions on 185 companies and individuals supporting Russia’s war of aggression. Accordingly, companies and entrepreneurs who transport personnel and military technology by train on behalf of the “aggressor state” will be punished, Zelenskyj said in his video message published every evening on Saturday. The confiscated disposable assets will benefit national defense, he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy sanctions companies and individuals who support Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine.Credit: Planet Pix via ZUMA Press Wire / Ukraine Presidency/Ukrainian Pre

Belarusian companies that support Russia with the transports are also on the list published in the evening with 182 companies and 3 people. Ukraine is working to ensure that other states also block the companies’ assets. At the same time, Zelenskyy thanked “everyone who is helping to strengthen the sanctions against Russia” and those investigators who uncovered and prosecuted Russia’s circumvention of the sanctions.

5.01 a.m .: Scholz wants to continue calling Putin

Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to continue trying to work towards an end to the war against Ukraine in direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I will also be on the phone with Putin again – because it is necessary to talk to each other”, said the SPD politician to the “Tagesspiegel” (Sunday). As long as Russia continues the war with undiminished aggression, the current situation will not change, said Scholz. “But it’s important to me that the talks keep coming back to the actual topic: How will the world get out of this terrible situation? The prerequisite for this is clear: the withdrawal of Russian troops.”

January 28th

12:56 p.m .: Russia is said to be planning a new offensive on the anniversary of the beginning of the war

According to Ukrainian sources, Russia is preparing a new offensive for the anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. It is “no secret” that the Russian army is preparing a new wave of attacks for February 24said the Secretary of the Ukrainian Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, Radio Svoboda.

Russia has mobilized hundreds of thousands of reservists and convicts to try to break through the Ukrainian lines and take over the entire Donbass, a vast coal and industrial area in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers fire an American self-propelled howitzer in the Kherson region.Image: AP / Libkos

5.01 a.m .: According to Zelenskyy, the situation in Donetsk is “extremely tense”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the situation in the hard-fought east of his country as persistently difficult. “The situation at the front and especially in the Donetsk region – near Bakhmut and Wuhledar – remains extremely tense,” Zelensky said in his evening video address on Friday.

“The occupiers are not only storming our positions – they are also deliberately and systematically destroying towns and villages around them. With artillery, air force and rockets,” said Zelenskyj. The Russian army had previously reported new attacks on Wuhledar. Only recently, together with the notorious Wagner mercenary group, they conquered and occupied the city of Soledar, which is also in Donetsk, after extremely costly battles.

January 27th

7:59 p.m .: Federal government according to Baerbock’s statement: Are not a party to the war

After a controversial statement by Foreign Minister Baerbock, the federal government has emphasized that Germany is not a party to the war in Ukraine. “NATO and Germany are not at war with Russia in this war of aggression against Ukraine,” said deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann. “We support Ukraine, but we are not a party to the war.”

On Tuesday at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Baerbock had called for the cohesion of the western allies with the following words: “We are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.” The Russian state media used this statement as a central key phrase for war propaganda – as proof that Germany and the other EU countries are direct conflict parties in Ukraine and are fighting against Russia.

The Russian state media interpreted Baerbock’s statements as evidence of Germany’s entry into the war.Image: AP / Jean-Francois Badias

You can find older news about the war in Ukraine here.