To share or not? A poisoned invitation: Putin’s fifth inauguration leads to a split in the European Union

There are major disagreements within the European Union about how to properly deal with invitations to attend the celebration marking the beginning of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fifth term in office. As several EU diplomats told the German news agency in Brussels on Monday, countries such as France, Hungary and Slovakia would like to send representatives to attend Putin’s swearing-in in order to keep communication channels open. However, Germany and many other EU countries consider participation inappropriate, especially in light of Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine. “Germany will not participate in this event,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman in Berlin said on Monday.

In the case of the Federal Republic, the government summoned the German ambassador in Moscow, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, to Berlin for a week-long consultations in the wake of cyberattacks on the Social Democratic Party and German companies. The federal government blames a Russian military intelligence unit for the attacks.

To share or not? This is the question in the European Union

The official representative of the European Union in Moscow, like most ambassadors of EU member states, will not attend the ceremony on Tuesday, a spokesman for the European External Action Service said late in the evening in Brussels. Foreign Affairs Representative Josep Borrell had previously spoken against the EU’s participation in the event. But according to diplomats, there were also dissenting voices. Among other things, they are said to have warned that staying away from the ceremony could give Russia an excuse to ignore more diplomatic rules and norms in the future.

Putin – and who else?

Putin wants to be sworn in for another term as Russian president on Tuesday morning. This marks the beginning of another six years as head of state. The ceremony will be held in the Moscow Kremlin in front of representatives of the government, both houses of the Russian Parliament and other high-level guests. 71-year-old Putin, who has dominated politics in the country for 24 years, achieved a record result of more than 87 percent of the votes in the presidential elections that took place last March.

The European Union strongly criticized the conduct of the elections. Russian voters have very limited access to factual information and “have no real choice,” a statement said. The reason for this was, among other things, the exclusion of many candidates – including all those who spoke out against Russia’s aggressive war on Ukraine.

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Advisor Olaf Schulz The Social Democratic Party (SPD) says it wants to further strengthen international unity against Russia’s use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. “It is always important to say loudly that nuclear weapons must not be used in this war,” Schulz said during a visit to Latvia. He added that this should be one of the clear messages in the peace conference scheduled to be held in Switzerland in mid-June.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously ordered his army to train on the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Forces near the border must also participate Ukraine To share. The Russian military leadership’s announcement did not mention exactly where and when the first military maneuver of this kind would be held since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The United States criticized the announced Russian nuclear maneuvers

The United States has Russia He was accused of „irresponsible speech” regarding the announced maneuver. Pat Ryder, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense, said that given the current security situation, such announcements were “completely inappropriate.” Meanwhile, there are currently no signs of changes “in Russian strategic strike force formations” and the United States continues to monitor the situation. John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, made a similar statement: “It is simply reckless and irresponsible for the leader of a major nuclear power to wave his sword the way he does regarding the potential use of nuclear weapons.” He looks at Putin.

In Riga, Schulz noted that China had also warned Russia against doing so in the past nuclear weapons For use in the war against Ukraine. Russia’s dependence on China has increased sharply in recent years as a result of Western sanctions, and two-way trade has expanded significantly since the beginning of the war.

Therefore, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is currently on a state visit to Europe, is considered one of the few heads of state who can exert influence on Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also recently called on Xi to use this leverage. Put it in To convince them to end the war.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also said that she should not be swayed by Russian nuclear threats. The aim of advertising is to spread fear. “That is why we should not give in to him,” Kalas said after the meeting with Schulz. Meanwhile, Callas stated that he could not completely rule out the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons. She said Russia had „done all kinds of crazy things” in the past.

Schulz met with the heads of government of the three Baltic countries in Riga, Latvia. There he stressed the unity within NATO that Putin had sparked with his attack on Ukraine. During the visit, Schulz also backed EU plans to use revenues from frozen Russian state assets to finance arms purchases for Ukraine.

Schultz wants to buy global weapons for quick delivery

The European Union Commission had already announced similar plans months ago. There are legal reservations regarding demands to completely confiscate about 200 billion euros of Russian state funds frozen in the European Union and hand them over to Ukraine. The Authority believes that the resulting interest income can be used without any legal problems. This is likely a low single digit billions per year.

Schulz demanded in Riga that 90% of this amount should be used to finance arms shipments to Ukraine. He also called for this money not to be used to purchase weapons only within the European Union, but rather in the entire global market. The Chancellor said: “What is actually important now is that weapons can be delivered quickly, and not for this to happen simply by building a new factory.”

At the same time, Schulz, together with the heads of government of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, called for expanding European arms production. He added that the matter has already begun in the field of ammunition and anti-aircraft systems.

The Czech Republic also buys ammunition for Ukraine

The European Union announced at the end of last year that it wanted to deliver one million artillery shells to Ukraine by spring. However, this goal was far from being achieved, which, in addition to the temporary interruption of arms shipments from the USA, led to a shortage of ammunition in the Ukrainian army and loss of territory.

Alternatively, the Czech Republic has been working for months to purchase up to 1.5 million doses from the global market for delivery to Ukraine. About 20 countries are helping to finance this initiative, including Germany with about 600 million euros. Deliveries should start in the summer at the latest.

Follow all the current developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine on our live blog.

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