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It’s time to give the Ukrainians a ‘shield’ and a ‘sword,’ Estonian Foreign Minister Reinsalu says in POLITICO interview. Foreign ministers of Latvia, Iceland, Estonia, Lithuania and Finland begin the long journey to Kyiv on Sunday in Vilnius | Lili Bayer/POLITICO That was the message from Nordic and Baltic ministers who arrived in the snow-covered Ukrainian capital on Monday morning.   The group — which includes foreign ministers from Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden — represents the largest high-level delegation to visit Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February. The ministers who spoke with POLITICO in Ukraine…

Pope Francis recognized Russia as an aggressor of Ukraine. I am not naming Putin because it is already known One of the journalists' questions to the Pope concerned the war in Ukraine. Journalist Gerard O'Connell noted that for many people in the United States, it appears as if the Pope does not want to directly criticize Russia for its aggression against Ukraine, preferring instead to speak more generally about the need to end the war, to end mercenary activity, rather than Russian attacks, to end trade weapons "How would you explain your position regarding this war to Ukrainians, Americans and…

The Patriot anti-aircraft missile system is capable of hitting targets at a long distance. Only a few units of the system would already allow to close a large area of air space. This was stated by the spokesman of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yurii Ihnat, on the air of the telethon,  As Ignat explained, there are currently several modifications of the long-range complex. The latest modification of the air defense system is also capable of hitting ballistic targets. In general, the percentage of impression varies depending on the technical characteristics of the complex, for example:…

The head of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PIS) party, Jarosaw Kaczyski, believes that Germany will not dare to shoot down Russian missiles and insists on the transfer of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. According to him, Patriots will be useful in war, but only where they will be used. He noted that Germany's position today does not give reason to believe that it would dare to shoot down Russian missiles. Kaczyński said that placing air defense systems in the western regions of Ukraine would make it possible to protect Poland, as well as the infrastructure and citizens of…

Smoke rises from a Russian strike in the Kherson ship yards | Chris McGrath/Getty Images Russian forces are intensifying their shelling of Kyiv-controlled territories in the Kherson region, as Ukrainian authorities evacuate civilians to safer areas. Yaroslav Yanushevych, the regional governor of Kherson, said on Sunday that Russian forces shelled the region 54 times during the past day, using “terror tactics.” Moscow’s troops “purposefully hit civilians in the region,” he said. According to the official, one resident was killed, and two more persons were injured, including a child. Russian troops were withdrawn from the city of Kherson and other settlements…

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she no longer saw any possibility of influencing Russian President Vladimir Putin toward the end of her term in office. In an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel, Merkel talked about her final encounters with Putin, saying that throughout her farewell visit to Moscow in August 2021 she felt “in terms of power politics, you’re done,” adding that “for Putin, only power counts.” She cited the fact that Putin brought Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov along to this last visit as another sign of her crumbling power, as previously they met “often in…

‘This improvisation highlights the level of depletion in Russia’s stock of long-range missiles,’ British Ministry of Defense says. A missile fragment in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv | Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP via Getty Images The British Ministry of Defense on Saturday suggested that Russia might be using older cruise missiles without nuclear warheads against Ukraine. “Russia is likely removing the nuclear warheads from aging nuclear cruise missiles and firing the unarmed munitions at Ukraine,” the U.K. said in a tweeted defense intelligence update. U.K. Intelligence came to that conclusion based on open source imagery showing the wreckage of a Russian…

Former British prime minister Boris Johnson urged people on Saturday to consider supporting an appeal for medical equipment for Ukraine, organised by the UK’s largest group of private hospitals.

Advocates for soldiers’ families say they have been passed over for a meeting with Vladimir Putin. Photograph: Vladimir Smirnov/AP President derided for ‘staging’ meeting with handpicked mothers and wives in attempt to quell anger over call-up Two months after mobilising tens of thousands of Russian men, the Kremlin has said that Vladimir Putin will grant some of their mothers and wives an audience to quell fears over the mass call-up. But advocates for soldiers’ families have said they were passed over for the meeting and are expecting it to be a whitewash covering up the Kremlin’s disregard for its own…

Mr. President of the Paneuropean movement of Austria Karl von Habsburg, Members of the Board, Excellencies,  Or should I just say: fellow Europeans! At the onset, I would like to pay tribute to Otto von Habsburg, who dedicated his life to promoting the Paneuropean movement and contributed immensely to piercing the Iron Curtain at the time. He was also one of the first to identify Putin as the greatest threat to Europe -- as early as in 2005.  His prophecy has become our grim reality. Today, Russia is hitting peaceful Ukrainian cities with missiles and drones in a genocidal war…