Austrian Chancellor Nehammer ‘pessimistic’ over Putin’s ‘war logic’
What to remember from the news of April 11:
- Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer “pessimistic” after his interview with Vladimir Putin in Moscow
- The ministers ofEuropean Union are discussing new penalties against Russia in Luxembourg but a compromise is more and more difficult to find among the 27
- the Pentagon asserts that Russian forces are strengthening in the Donbass
- The World Trade Organization estimates that the war in ukraine could wipe out half of world trade growth expected in 2022
- Volodymyr Zelensky met with the President of the African Union, Macky Sall, and told him that he wanted “make a communication to the AU”
- The French bank Societe Generale will withdraw from Russia
- From french gendarmes a Lviv to investigate war crimes
All times are given in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format. For information, France is located in the UTC+2 time zone.
7:45 p.m. Paris expels six Russian spies “under diplomatic cover”
France has decided to expel six Russian spies who it claims were operating under cover of their embassy in Paris and “whose activities have been found to be contrary to (his) national interests”says the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“Following a very long investigation, the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) revealed on Sunday April 10 a clandestine operation carried out by the Russian intelligence services on our territory. Six Russian agents operating under diplomatic cover (…) have been declared persona non grata”.
6:43 p.m. Austrian Chancellor “pessimists” in front of the “logic of war” by Putin
“We must have no illusions (…). President Putin has massively entered into a logic of war and he is acting accordingly”declared Karl Nehammer at the end of his visit, the first by a European leader since the beginning of the intervention.
“I made it clear to the Russian President the urgency of setting up humanitarian corridors to bring water and food and evacuate women, children and the wounded from besieged cities”underlined the chancellor, insisting on the fact that it was not a question “not a friendly visit”.
The interview took place in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence near Moscow. No image has filtered from the meeting and no joint press conference is planned. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, this closed-door format was chosen at the initiative of the Austrian side.
6:29 p.m. The Italian Prime Minister an agreement from Algeria for more gas to Italy.
Following a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Prime Minister Mario Draghi announced an agreement between the Italian energy group ENI, a key player in the hydrocarbons sector in Algeria, and the Algerian state giant Sonatrach for the latter to supply more gas to Italy.
“Our governments have signed a declaration of understanding on bilateral cooperation in the energy sector. To this is added the agreement between ENI and Sonatrach to increase gas exports to Italy” declared Mario Draghi to the press, recalling that as soon as Ukraine was invaded he had “announced that Italy would have quickly organized itself to reduce dependence on Russian gas.”
6:01 p.m. Russian forces are strengthening around the Donbass, and especially near the strategic town of Izium, but have not yet caused their offensive to take full control of this region of eastern Ukraine.
Mentioning in particular a column of characters north of Izioum, this Pentagon official (who wished to remain anonymous) explains that he noticed “Russian efforts to replenish and strengthen in the Donbass”. Russian forces are also strengthening to the south-west of Donetsk (east), particularly with artillery, but “we are not spending that the new offensive has begun”.
5:50 p.m. The war in Ukraine could erase half of the growth in world trade expected in 2022, according to a study by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
According to this study, the crisis should reduce the growth of world GDP to a level between 3.1 and 3.7% this year, while that of world trade should settle between 2.4% and 3%. In October, the WTO was expecting an increase of 4.7%.
“Most of the suffering and destruction is felt by the people of Ukraine, but the costs in terms of reduced trade and production will likely be felt by people around the world due to rising food prices and the energy and the reduced availability of goods exported by Russia and Ukraine”notes the WTO Secretariat.
5:47 p.m. Volodymyr Zelensky wants to address the African Union
African Union Chairman Macky Sall discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who told him he wanted “make a communication to the AU”he announced in a tweet.
I thank the Pdt @ZelenskyyUa for his call today. We discussed the impact of the war in Ukraine on the world economy and the need to favor dialogue over a negotiated issue of the conflict. I also noted his request to make a communication to the AU.
— Macky Sall (@Macky_Sall) April 11, 2022
3:46 p.m. Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte traveled with her Ukrainian counterpart Denys Chmygal to the small town of Borodianka near kyiv, destroyed by bombs.
“No words could describe what I saw and felt here”, wrote on Twitter the Lithuanian Prime Minister, whose country is one of the main supporters of Ukraine against Moscow. Ingrida Simnyte wore a sweatshirt with the Ukrainian symbol.
In a press briefing following this visit, she reiterated her country’s aid to Ukraine.
3:05 p.m. Italian authorities are to seize a luxury villa in Porto Cervo in Sardinia belonging to the father of Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin.
Villa Rocky Ram, located in Capo Capaccia, the most extreme point of the luxurious Costa Smeralda of Sardinia is delivered to more than 100 million euros. No photos exist of this residence. It was owned by Italian industrialist Carlo De Benedetti who sold it in 2012 to Dimitri Mazepin, a Russian chemical billionaire and his son Nikita, a Formula 1 driver recently ousted from the American Haas team.
The Italian State is in the process of seizing many villas of oligarchs in Sardinia.
3:00 p.m. Hungary will modify its gas supply contract with the Russian Gazprom in order to meet the payment requirements in rubles imposed by Vladimir Putin.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced that the supplier of Hungarian energy group MVM, CEE Energy, will pay its bills in euros to Gazprombank which will convert the payments into rubles to Gazprom Export.
2:35 p.m. The Austrian chancellor will try to obtain humanitarian corridors from Moscow.
Austrian Chancellor Nehammer is in talks right now with Vladimir Putin in Moscow to try to get humanitarian corridors briefed by his Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg.
“We must seize every opportunity to end the humanitarian hell in Ukraine and that is what the Chancellor will do with very clear messages of a humanitarian nature and political advice”, said Alexander Schallenberg, before a meeting with his counterparts from the European Union in Luxembourg. The message sent to the Russian President will be that “We want the war to end. We want humanitarian corridors. We want international humanitarian organizations to be able to do their job.”
The Austrian Foreign Minister added that Karl Nehammer “does not have a European mandate”. His trip to Moscow is “a personal initiative” decided after talks in kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and after discussions with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as the heads of European institutions Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel.
12:19 PM. The Ukrainian army says it is preparing for “one last battle” in the besieged port of Mariupol.
“Today will probably be the last battle because our ammunition is running out. (…) It will be death for some of us and captivity for others”according to the 36th National Navy Brigade, which is part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
11:47 a.m. French gendarmes in Lviv to investigate war crimes.
French gendarmes arrived in Lviv, western Ukraine, to assist their Ukrainian counterparts “in the investigations of war crimes committed around kyiv”, according to the French ambassador to Ukraine. It’s about the “first “foreign unit” to provide such assistance“, says Etienne de Poncins, the French ambassador to Ukraine.
Proud to welcome to #Lviv the detachment of technical and scientific gendarmes who came to assist their comrades in the investigations of war crimes committed around #Kiev. The first to provide such assistance. They will be at work tomorrow. Solidarity pic.twitter.com/3pX9LkPzeq
— Etienne de Poncins (@EdePoncins) April 11, 2022
08:39 AM. The French bank Societe Generale will withdraw from Russia.
Societe Generale, which has been continuing its activities in Russia since the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, announces that it will end them via the planned sale of its entire stake in Rosbank. Very involved in Russia, the French bank was exposed to the tune of 18.6 billion euros, including 15.4 billion for Rosbank.
04:01 AM. Meeting in Luxembourg of European ministers to discuss new sanctions.
EU foreign ministers will discuss a 6th sanctions package against Moscow on Monday in Luxembourg, but halting oil and gas purchases to stop funding the Russian war effort divided the 27.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asks his European interlocutors “the adoption of powerful sanctions”. He is calling for a halt to oil and gas purchases and the supply of heavy weapons to resist the announced offensive in the Donbass region (east).
00:59 UT: 5600 investigations for war crimes.
Ukraine has opened 5,600 investigations for alleged war crimes on its territory since the start of the Russian invasion, according to the country’s Attorney General Iryna Venediktova. “More than 1,200 bodies have been discovered so far in the kyiv region, partly occupied for several weeks by Russian forces”.