News and assessments of the Russian attack war in Ukraine and the effects:
Scholz: Trump’s Selenskyj expressions “wrong and dangerous”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has sharply rejected the statements of US President Donald Trump that Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj is a “dictator”. “It is simply wrong and dangerous to deny President Selenskyj democratic legitimation,” Scholz told the mirror. “The right thing is: Wolodymyr Selenskyj is the chosen head of state of Ukraine. The fact that no proper elections can be held in the middle of the war corresponds to the requirements of the Ukrainian constitution and the election law. Nobody should say anything else,” said Scholz. It is Russia below Vladimir Putin was that started the war in Ukraine.
Trump calls Selenskyj “dictator”
US President Donald Trump has significantly tightened his tone towards Wolodymyr Selenskyj. In a social media contribution, he called the Ukrainian President a “dictator” that abuse US aid. “He rejects it to stop elections is very low in Ukrainian surveys, and the only thing he could do was to play like a violin,” said Trump. “A dictator without elections, Selenskyj should move quickly or he will no longer have a country.”
Selenskyj accuses Trump of spreading Putin propaganda
US President Trump repeats Russian propaganda, the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj said and thus reacted to Trump’s claim that Ukraine had started the war against Russia and he, Selenskyj, lost the support of his citizens. “Unfortunately, he lives in a space of disinformation,” said Selenskyj in front of reporters on Wednesday. “I hope that there is more truth in Trump’s team.” It is the sharpest reaction of Selenskyj to Trump’s leadership and his advertisements about Russian President Vladimir Putin.
FDP requests special session of the budget committee for Ukraine
In view of the difficult situation of Ukraine, the FDP parliamentary group calls on the federal government to quickly provide new military aid for the country. To this end, the FDP requests a special meeting of the budget committee for tomorrow. This emerges from a letter from the first parliamentary managing director of the FDP parliamentary group, Johannes Vogel, to Bundestag president Bärbel Bas (SPD). The Handelsblatt quotes from the letter. “Against the background of developments at the Munich Security Conference and the discussions between the USA and Russia already planned for this week, a session is still offered this week to set a sign of the ongoing support of Germany quickly and determined,” writes Vogel der According to the newspaper. The requested special meeting should serve to advise on further support measures for Ukraine, if necessary, to decide or clarify why they are not necessary from the perspective of the Federal Government.
Hofreiter demands 500 billion euros for European defense
Green European politician Anton Hofreiter has shown himself to be disappointed with the outcome of the Ukraine summit in Paris and demanded massive investments in European defense. “What is now needed by European leadership is a big investment offensive with which Ukraine can be supported even more and the EU’s defense ability is improved promptly and efficiently,” Hofreiter told the Funke media group newspapers. “This requires a 500 billion difficult defense fund to support Ukraine and for joint armaments in the EU. This is the only way we can prevent further war in Europe.” The summit in Paris unfortunately brought little results, criticized the chairman of the European Committee in the Bundestag. The big speeches about strength and agreement did not follow any specific steps.
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(End) Dow Jones Newswires
February 19, 2025 13:35 ET (18:35 GMT)