According to Spiegel, the German Foreign Ministry declared 40 employees of the Russian embassy persona non grata, the head of the ministry, Annalena Burbock, confirmed the decision to expel, but did not name the exact number of employees.
“The federal government today decided to declare undesirable a significant number of employees of the Russian embassy who here in Germany worked daily against our freedom and the unity of our society. Their work is a threat to those who seek our protection. We will not tolerate this” , Burbock said, quoted by the press service of the ministry.
Burbock said the Russian ambassador was informed of the decision on Monday.
German authorities are looking for private buyers for Gazprom’s assets in the country, offering government loans from KfW IPEX-Bank as support, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the situation.
Last week, Gazprom reportedly announced that it had ceased control of the Gazprom Germania group and all of its assets. This is the WINGAS/WIEE distributor, the astora storage operator. The Gazprom Marketing & Trading group also includes the retail operator Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd. (Gazprom Energy brand) and the global LNG trader Gazprom Global LNG. In 2019, the consolidated turnover of Gazprom Germania amounted to 24 billion euros, in 2020 – 13 billion euros.
The source of the agency also notes that Germany does not rule out the nationalization of parts of Gazprom Germania as a last resort, although Berlin wants to find another solution. Germany has made “mixed progress” in its efforts to bail out Gazprom Germania, but the government wants to avoid nationalizing or even expropriating the group’s assets, Bloomberg said. Officials are currently still studying the economic impact of a possible shutdown of Gazprom Germania’s companies. The final decision has not yet been made.
Finding a buyer for the assets will not be easy, the publication notes, as the companies’ businesses are closely linked: Gazprom Marketing & Trading is engaged in hedging and supply for Wingas and Gazprom Energy. And without these links, consumers will be forced to buy resources at much higher prices.
Germany creates the main difficulties for tightening sanctions against the Russian Federation, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said at a press conference on Monday. “This is Germany, which is the main hindrance to the sanctions,” Western media quoted the prime minister as saying. Hungary, according to Morawiecki, does not block the possibility of strengthening sanctions against Russia. On the eve of the President of the European Council Charles Michel said that the EU authorities are preparing for new sanctions against Russia.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba discussed with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock the issues of toughening sanctions against the Russian Federation and strengthening the defense capability of Ukraine, and also thanked the German side for refusing to a demand of the Russian Federation to pay for energy in Russian currency.
“I spoke with Annalena Baerbock and thanked Germany for refusing to pay for Russian natural gas exports in rubles. Emphasized the need to impose new stiff sanctions on Russia. Informed on the frontline developments. The need to further strengthen Ukraine’s defense capabilities is urgent,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba denied rumors that Germany and France are putting pressure on Ukraine to make concessions in negotiations with the Russian Federation.
“Those countries that you mentioned are our partners, they help us a lot, especially the UK, and we don’t feel any pressure in the negotiation process from their side, we feel support and we have very close interaction with these governments,” Kuleba said at the briefing in Warsaw on Friday.
So Kuleba responded to a journalist’s request to comment on media reports that France and Germany are putting pressure on Ukraine to make concessions to the Russian Federation in the negotiations.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that even before the start of the war, it was inappropriate to say that Ukraine could be put under pressure.
“We have shown in a number of situations that Ukraine does not succumb to any pressure, you can only speak with us on an equal footing and you can never speak down. And after 36 days of war, I assure you that no one in Europe or overseas will even dare to attack President Zelensky or to Ukraine for any reason,” Kuleba said.
Volodymyr Klitschko, as part of the Ukrainian delegation, left for Germany, where negotiations are planned on political and economic support for Ukraine, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said.
“Vladimir went with a delegation from Ukraine to meetings in Germany. Meetings are planned with German politicians and officials for political support of Ukraine – economic, humanitarian and military assistance to our state,” Vitali Klitschko wrote on his Facebook page
The mayor of Kyiv stressed the importance of consolidating all efforts to support the country.
“Today it is very important to unite all forces – both in Ukraine and to consolidate the positions and actions of the partner countries of our state,” he said.
