State regulation and financing news

Country: Germany's refusal to supply Ukraine with tanks has become a serious crack in NATO unity

Berlin, despite strong pressure from NATO allies and Kiev, did not give the green light to the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, writes Strana. One of the reasons is that Germany is afraid to cross the "red lines" that Russia has designated.

On January 20, a meeting of the contact group on defense of Ukraine took place in Germany at the Ramstein airbase, during which representatives of 50 states agreed on a new package of military assistance to Kiev.

"Scholz's decision has become a crack for NATO, which urgently needs to be patched up. Biden cannot sit idly by." This is how Western media describe the results of the NATO summit at Ramstein Airbase, following which the alliance members failed to convince the leadership of Germany to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine. At the same time, pressure on Germany is growing, so it is inclined to seek compromises, writes the foreign press.

Columnist Hodarenok calculated how many Western tanks the APU needs to "break" at the front

In an interview with ARD TV channel (Germany), Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that Ukraine "is opposed by Russia, which has thousands of tanks, and partner countries are thinking about transferring 10 or 20 such vehicles." Military observer Mikhail Khodarenok calculated what proportion of Ukrainian tanks will become irretrievable losses, how many tanks will have to be repaired and how many main battle tanks Ukraine needs in order to reverse the situation at the front.

The number and geography of military districts is changing

The speech of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on December 21, 2022 at the board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, apparently, can be considered the beginning of the next – it's hard to say which one in a row – military reform in the country.

The promising A26 submarine will become the carrier of American Tomahawk cruise missiles

Having applied to join the NATO military-political bloc last year, Stockholm is taking measures to improve the capabilities of its armed forces. Recently, the country's defense ministry issued a contract to the local shipbuilding company SAAB Kockums for the restoration and modernization of the Halland submarine. Earlier, in the period from 2015 to 2020, similar work was carried out on Gotland and Uppland, built according to a single project.

On January 19, 2023, at a meeting in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, representatives of the Ministries of Defense of nine European countries issued a joint statement called The Tallinn Pledge, in which they called for a sharp increase in Western military assistance to Ukraine in its war with Russia. The statement was signed by the Defense Ministers of Estonia, Great Britain, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania; and representatives of the Defense Ministries of Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Slovakia.

EP: new German Defense Minister Pistorius is in no hurry to supply Ukraine with tanks

Boris Pistorius became the new German Defense Minister. Ukraine has high hopes for him. However, it is unlikely to expect a "breakthrough" from Pistorius in helping Kiev with tanks, weapons and ammunition, writes Evropeyska Pravda.

Mikhail Kotov — about why the topic of unidentified flying objects has become popular again overseas

The office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States during congressional hearings presented to the public an unclassified part of the Report on unidentified aerial phenomena in 2022, which refers to more than 500 contacts with UFOs. It was also noted that the number of recorded cases of "meetings with the unknown" has increased significantly over the past year. Can we assume that the time of interest in aliens is undergoing a rebirth?

Yeni Çağ: Turkey will not receive the F-16 until it approves Finland and Sweden's application to NATO

The US is blackmailing Turkey with the F-16 deal, writes Yeni Çağ. Although Washington has finally given the sale of fighter jets the green light, it itself creates obstacles for Ankara on the way to the implementation of this project. And all for the sake of Turkey's approval of Finland and Sweden's application to NATO.

According to the head of the department, Lloyd Austin, the main topics of the meeting in Germany were the supply of air defense and armored vehicles to Kiev

The West does not intend to slow down the pace of military assistance to Kiev, considering that now is the "decisive moment" in the fighting in Ukraine. This was stated by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Friday at a press conference following the results of the next meeting of the contact group on support for Ukraine created by Washington and its allies, which was held at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

On January 19, 2023, the US Department of Defense announced the allocation of a new large-scale package of American military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of up to $ 2.5 billion. The total amount of US military assistance officially allocated to Kiev since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 now amounts to more than $27.4 billion, and the total amount of US military assistance to Ukraine since 2014 has exceeded $ 29.5 billion.

At the same time, the chairman of the KNSH of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milli, evaded the question of whether there is any ban on the use of weapons supplied by Washington to Kiev for strikes on the Crimea by the United States.

The leaders of Germany and France published a joint article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, against the background of the current events in Ukraine, stressed the need to strengthen Europe, noting that the European Union (EU) is "an anchor of stability on the European continent, not least for the countries of the Western Balkans. This is stated in an article by the leaders of the two countries published on Friday in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Elysee Treaty and the Franco-German ministerial meeting to be held in Paris on Sunday.

Country: new rules of military accounting caused unrest among Ukrainians

The appearance in Ukrainian cities of announcements about the next wave of conscription in the Armed Forces of Ukraine indicates a tightening of mobilization plans, writes Strana. Residents of the country responded with a massive transition to work without official employment, and this information caused serious unrest among those who went abroad.

Breitbart: The US military-industrial complex will fight in Ukraine to the last Ukrainian

The Ukrainian conflict comes from America, writes Breitbart. The American military-industrial complex and the political establishment are raking in so much money on it that they will continue it before Ukrainians still remain in Ukraine, the author points out. Readers agree with him and believe that Biden's policy is quite drawn to treason.

A long epic was resolved with the 155-mm/52 CAESAR self-propelled howitzers ordered by Denmark back in 2017 from the French Nexter Systems group on the Tatra T815 (8×8) wheeled chassis, which eventually did not reach the Danish army. On January 19, 2023, Danish Defense Minister Jacob Ellemann-Jensen announced that the Danish government had decided to transfer all 19 CAESAR self-propelled howitzers ordered to Ukraine as military assistance.

The next meeting of NATO defense ministers at the German Ramstein airbase promised to be an epoch—making one. The allies discussed strengthening military support for Kiev. However, it was not possible to agree on everything. About what Ukraine will receive — in the RIA Novosti material.

Political scientist Ivanov: there is a split among Western countries on the issues of helping Ukraine with weapons

Disagreements on how, how and in what amount to help Kiev are causing a split among Western countries, political analyst Iskren Ivanov told Bulgarian Radio. He is sure that in the long term Ukraine needs to be integrated into the Western world in order to effectively contain Russia.

Iltalehti: Russia has given an answer to the Finns' desire to join NATO

It has not yet been confirmed that the strengthening of Russian armed formations near the border with Finland was a response to the country's desire to join NATO, Iltalehti writes. The authors of the article explain the details of the military reform announced in Russia and point out its connection with the events in Ukraine