Ukrainian Embassy denies that Zelenskyy's visit to Germany was shortened
The Ukrainian Embassy in Germany has called reports in the German media that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has cancelled his participation in the Charlemagne Prize award ceremony in Aachen due to the threat of a new Russian offensive "not true".
Source: European Pravda with reference to a statement by the embassy
Quote: "Reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has cancelled his participation in tomorrow's Charlemagne Prize award ceremony in Aachen due to the threat of a Russian offensive are not true."
Background:
Earlier, Spiegel reported that President Zelenskyy supposedly would not be able to attend the event in Aachen on 29 May due to the escalation of the situation on the front lines and the threat of a large-scale Russian offensive in Sumy Oblast.
On 28 May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held meetings in Berlin with Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Bundestag President Julia Klöckner.
During the visit, Germany promised new military aid to Ukraine worth €5 billion.
Among other things, a contract was signed with Diehl Defence for the production of IRIS-T systems and missiles for them. Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umierov said that the total value of the contract is €2.2 billion.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Hamburg knife attack: how fake images spread right-wing hate
Last Friday, 18 people were injured in a knife attack at Hamburg's main train station. Fifteen of them were stabbed, and three sustained other injuries. The German news agency dpa reported that four suffered life-threatening injuries, but were now all in stable condition. The suspect is a 39-year-old woman who Hamburg authorities believe had been "experiencing a psychological emergency." The attack was followed by a major operation at Hamburg station, involving police, the fire service and emergency medical responders. Police later commended the "rapid intervention" of two passersby who managed to stop the woman, take the knife from her,and pin her down until authorities arrived to arrest her, as local media later reported. One of those passersby is Muhammad al-Muhammad, a Syrian teenager who came to Germany in 2022. As more and more outlets have reported on his courage to intervene, he has become the center of a national conversation about immigration dominated by right-wing media narratives. The German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel recently published an article on al-Muhammad. The lead image they showed of him for their report was provided by al-Muhammad himself. It has since been manipulated and repurposed to peddle false information online. The original image shows al-Muhammad standing in Berlin in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Online users have copied his likeness onto backgrounds showing Washington DC or Moscow. These posts are accompanied by sarcastic remarks like "the peace talks [between Russia and Ukraine] can now begin, thanks to Muhammad al-Muhammad," implying that media reports on him have so far been given an overly positive spin. Una Titz is a media expert at the Amadeu Antonio Foundation, which combats right-wing extremism and racism. "The fact that a Syrian person is the savior [in this story] doesn't fit the worldview in which refugees, and especially Syrian refugees, are equated with violent assailants and knife attacks," she told DW. "The goal of posts like this is to echo right-wing, populist sentiments." The German tabloid Bild also released an image of Muhammad al-Muhammad which was later manipulated and circulated to spread false information. But these posts have not only served to express scorn or disbelief over his courageous act, they have also made people unsure about the truth of the facts presented. While some photo montages, which usually depict what appears to be al-Muhammad in front of famous cultural monuments, can easily be spotted as fake, others are much more convincing. One such image that has spread widely is an AI-generated montage mirroring the original image of al-Muhammad standing in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. The manipulated version shows what appears to be a young man who bears a striking resemblance to al-Muhammad standing at what looks like a lively German train station. But the young man's face is wider than al-Muhammad's, his features smoother, the logo on his jacket appears distorted, as does the writing on a display board behind him. The faces of people standing behind him appear somewhat out of proportion. Ostensibly, this image is meant to show al-Muhammad at the scene of the crime, at the Hamburg main train station. But it's made users unsure about the real course of events. One account on X commented the following: "His hair is perfect, his [hooded sweater] is the same, his biceps have shrunk — all overnight. How did you do it, presslets?" The term "presslet" is a dismissive term for the press meant to emphasize inexperience and unserious reporting. The post had over 600,000 views at the time of reporting. Although established media outlets refrained from using this AI-generated image of al-Muhammad in their reporting, the false image still had the effect of discrediting media and accusing them of falsifying accounts. As a result, many online users felt more inclined to doubt that Muhammad al-Muhammad even existed, or that he had played a pivotal — let alone heroic — role in the the Hamburg knife attack, or that media portrayed him accurately. Media expert Titz, who also specializes in the ways mis- and disinformation undermine democracy, points out that suchdiscrediting of the press adds a conspiratorial element to the aftermath of the event. "It doesn't only spread distrust and foment insecurity," the expert explained. "We're familiar with this from peoples' faith in so-called 'psyops' [psychological operations, editor's note] in the US. There, some people are convinced that the moon landing or certain attacks were myths, invented by the CIA." The right-wing German tabloid exxtra24 has picked up this messaging, implying that al-Muhammad is not a real person. "Why do current police reports not mention Muhammad al-Muhammad, even though police apparently treated him to 'a cappuccino as a reward'?" The question refers to the Spiegel report, in which al-Muhammad told reporters that police had bought him a coffee after they arrested the suspected assailant to thank him for his role in apprehending her. DW's fact-checking team contacted the Hamburg police to learn more. They replied that "it is absolutely common practice for witnesses, victims, suspects, etcetera, to not be named, on principle, in police reports to the press. An individual's rights to personal dignity, privacy and identity, which a law enforcement agency must uphold at all times, are the basis for this practice." The police also confirmed that, to their knowledge, one of the passersby mentioned in their reports was named Muhammad al-Muhammad. This disinformation surrounding the young man has Titz concerned. "It creates a climate of uncertainty, in which reality is increasingly called into question," she explained. "So, in parallel to the empirically established facts, which journalists researched well, we see more and more alternative realities and accounts emerge." This article was translated from German.
2 hours ago
Trump and Putin hint at US-Russia trade revival, but business environment remains hostile
Hundreds of foreign companies left Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major U.S. firms like Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Co. But after more than three years of war, President Donald Trump has held out the prospect of restoring U.S.-Russia trade if there's ever a peace settlement. And Russian President Vladimir Putin has said foreign companies could come back under some circumstances. 'Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic 'bloodbath' is over, and I agree,' Trump said in a statement after a phone call with Putin. 'There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED.' The president then shifted his tone toward Putin after heavy drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, saying Putin 'has gone absolutely crazy' and threatening new sanctions. That and recent comments from Putin warning Western companies against reclaiming their former stakes seemed to reflect reality more accurately — that it's not going to be a smooth process for businesses going back into Russia. That's because Russia's business environment has massively changed since 2022. And not in ways that favor foreign companies. And with Putin escalating attacks and holding on to territory demands Ukraine likely isn't going to accept, a peace deal seems distant indeed. Here are factors that could deter U.S. companies from ever going back: Russian law classifies Ukraine's allies as 'unfriendly states' and imposes severe restrictions on businesses from more than 50 countries. Those include limits on withdrawing money and equipment as well as allowing the Russian government to take control of companies deemed important. Foreign owners' votes on boards of directors can be legally disregarded. Companies that left were required to sell their businesses for 50% or less of their assessed worth, or simply wrote them off while Kremlin-friendly business groups snapped up their assets on the cheap. Under a 2023 presidential decree the Russian government took control of Finnish energy company Fortum, German power company Unipro, France's dairy company Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg. Even if a peace deal removed the U.S. from the list of unfriendlies, and if the massive Western sanctions restricting business in Russia were dropped, the track record of losses would remain vivid. And there's little sign any of that is going to happen. While the Russian government has talked in general about companies coming back, 'there's no specific evidence of any one company saying that they are ready to come back,' said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. consultancy. 'It's all at the political narrative level.' Russia's actions and legal changes have left 'long-lasting damage' to its business environment, says Elina Ribakova, non-resident senior fellow at the Bruegel research institute in Brussels. She said a return of U.S. businesses is 'not very likely.' In a meeting at the Kremlin on May 26 to mark Russian Entrepreneurs Day, Putin said that Russia needed to throttle large tech firms such as Zoom and Microsoft, which had restricted their services in Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, so that domestic tech companies could thrive instead. 'We need to strangle them,' Putin said. 'After all, they are trying to strangle us: we need to reciprocate. We didn't kick anyone out; we didn't interfere with anyone. We provided the most favorable conditions possible for their work here, in our market, and they are trying to strangle us.' He reassured a representative from Vkusno-i Tochka (Tasty-period) — the Russian-owned company that took over McDonald's restaurants in the country — that Moscow would aid them if the U.S. fast food giant tried to buy back its former stores. Asked for comment, McDonald's referred to their 2022 statement that 'ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable.' On top of Russia's difficult business environment, the economy is likely to stagnate due to lack of investment in sectors other than the military, economists say. 'Russia has one of the lowest projected long-term growth rates and one of the highest levels of country risk in the world,' says Heli Simola, senior economist at the Bank of Finland in a blog post. 'Only Belarus offers an equally lousy combination of growth and risk.' Most of the opportunity to make money is related to military production, and it's unlikely U.S. companies would work with the Russian military-industrial complex, said Ribakova. 'It's not clear where exactly one could plug in and expect outsize returns that would compensate for this negative investment environment.' Some companies, including Renault and Ford Motor Co., left with repurchase agreements letting them buy back their stakes years later if conditions change. But given Russia's unsteady legal environment, that's tough to count on. The Russian purchasers may try to change the terms, look for more money, or ignore the agreements, said Weafer. 'There's a lot of uncertainty as to how those buyback auctions will be enforced.' Multinational oil companies were among those who suffered losses leaving Russia, so it's an open question whether they would want to try again even given Russia's vast oil and gas reserves. US.. major ExxonMobil saw its stake in the Sakhalin oil project unilaterally terminated and wrote off $3.4 billion. Russia's major oil companies have less need of foreign partners than they did in the immediate post-Soviet era, though smaller oil field services might want to return given the size of Russia's oil industry. But they would have to face new requirements on establishing local presence and investment, Weafer said. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, 2,329 foreign companies are still doing business in Russia, many from China or other countries that aren't allied with Ukraine, while 1,344 are in the process of leaving and 494 have exited completely. The Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute lists some two dozen U.S. companies still doing business in Russia, while some 100 more have cut back by halting new investments. U.S. sanctions are considered the toughest, because they carry the threat of being cut off from the U.S. banking and financial system. But the EU is still slapping new rounds of sanctions on Russia. Even if U.S. sanctions are dropped, EU sanctions would continue to present compliance headaches for any company that also wants to do business in Europe.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump and Putin hint at US-Russia trade revival, but business environment remains hostile
Hundreds of foreign companies left Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including major U.S. firms like Coca-Cola, Nike, Starbucks, ExxonMobil and Ford Motor Co. But after more than three years of war, President Donald Trump has held out the prospect of restoring U.S.-Russia trade if there's ever a peace settlement. And Russian President Vladimir Putin has said foreign companies could come back under some circumstances. 'Russia wants to do largescale TRADE with the United States when this catastrophic 'bloodbath' is over, and I agree,' Trump said in a statement after a phone call with Putin. 'There is a tremendous opportunity for Russia to create massive amounts of jobs and wealth. Its potential is UNLIMITED.' The president then shifted his tone toward Putin after heavy drone and missile attacks on Kyiv, saying Putin 'has gone absolutely crazy' and threatening new sanctions. That and recent comments from Putin warning Western companies against reclaiming their former stakes seemed to reflect reality more accurately — that it's not going to be a smooth process for businesses going back into Russia. That's because Russia's business environment has massively changed since 2022. And not in ways that favor foreign companies. And with Putin escalating attacks and holding on to territory demands Ukraine likely isn't going to accept, a peace deal seems distant indeed. Here are factors that could deter U.S. companies from ever going back: Risk of losing it all Russian law classifies Ukraine's allies as 'unfriendly states' and imposes severe restrictions on businesses from more than 50 countries. Those include limits on withdrawing money and equipment as well as allowing the Russian government to take control of companies deemed important. Foreign owners' votes on boards of directors can be legally disregarded. Companies that left were required to sell their businesses for 50% or less of their assessed worth, or simply wrote them off while Kremlin-friendly business groups snapped up their assets on the cheap. Under a 2023 presidential decree the Russian government took control of Finnish energy company Fortum, German power company Unipro, France's dairy company Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg. Even if a peace deal removed the U.S. from the list of unfriendlies, and if the massive Western sanctions restricting business in Russia were dropped, the track record of losses would remain vivid. And there's little sign any of that is going to happen. While the Russian government has talked in general about companies coming back, 'there's no specific evidence of any one company saying that they are ready to come back,' said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. consultancy. 'It's all at the political narrative level.' Russia's actions and legal changes have left 'long-lasting damage' to its business environment, says Elina Ribakova, non-resident senior fellow at the Bruegel research institute in Brussels. She said a return of U.S. businesses is 'not very likely.' 'We need to strangle them' In a meeting at the Kremlin on May 26 to mark Russian Entrepreneurs Day, Putin said that Russia needed to throttle large tech firms such as Zoom and Microsoft, which had restricted their services in Russia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, so that domestic tech companies could thrive instead. 'We need to strangle them,' Putin said. 'After all, they are trying to strangle us: we need to reciprocate. We didn't kick anyone out; we didn't interfere with anyone. We provided the most favorable conditions possible for their work here, in our market, and they are trying to strangle us.' He reassured a representative from Vkusno-i Tochka (Tasty-period) — the Russian-owned company that took over McDonald's restaurants in the country — that Moscow would aid them if the U.S. fast food giant tried to buy back its former stores. Asked for comment, McDonald's referred to their 2022 statement that 'ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable.' Not much upside On top of Russia's difficult business environment, the economy is likely to stagnate due to lack of investment in sectors other than the military, economists say. 'Russia has one of the lowest projected long-term growth rates and one of the highest levels of country risk in the world,' says Heli Simola, senior economist at the Bank of Finland in a blog post. 'Only Belarus offers an equally lousy combination of growth and risk.' Most of the opportunity to make money is related to military production, and it's unlikely U.S. companies would work with the Russian military-industrial complex, said Ribakova. 'It's not clear where exactly one could plug in and expect outsize returns that would compensate for this negative investment environment.' Repurchase agreements Some companies, including Renault and Ford Motor Co., left with repurchase agreements letting them buy back their stakes years later if conditions change. But given Russia's unsteady legal environment, that's tough to count on. The Russian purchasers may try to change the terms, look for more money, or ignore the agreements, said Weafer. 'There's a lot of uncertainty as to how those buyback auctions will be enforced.' But what about the oil and gas? Multinational oil companies were among those who suffered losses leaving Russia, so it's an open question whether they would want to try again even given Russia's vast oil and gas reserves. US.. major ExxonMobil saw its stake in the Sakhalin oil project unilaterally terminated and wrote off $3.4 billion. Russia's major oil companies have less need of foreign partners than they did in the immediate post-Soviet era, though smaller oil field services might want to return given the size of Russia's oil industry. But they would have to face new requirements on establishing local presence and investment, Weafer said. Some never left According to the Kyiv School of Economics, 2,329 foreign companies are still doing business in Russia, many from China or other countries that aren't allied with Ukraine, while 1,344 are in the process of leaving and 494 have exited completely. The Yale School of Management's Chief Executive Leadership Institute lists some two dozen U.S. companies still doing business in Russia, while some 100 more have cut back by halting new investments. EU sanctions could remain even if US open U.S. sanctions are considered the toughest, because they carry the threat of being cut off from the U.S. banking and financial system. But the EU is still slapping new rounds of sanctions on Russia. Even if U.S. sanctions are dropped, EU sanctions would continue to present compliance headaches for any company that also wants to do business in Europe.
