Ukraine updates: Canada revokes Nord Stream sanctions waiver
December 15, 2022
Canada will no longer allow Nord Stream turbines to be repaired in Montreal and returned to Germany, the Canadian government announced on Wednesday.
Authorities in Canada have revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that would have allowed the transportation and repair of a damaged turbine.
The Nord Stream pipeline — which is partially owned by Russia — was wound down for repairs on August 31. But the gas flow never restarted and in September a series of explosions led to a gas leak.
"Putin has been forced to show that his intention was never to return Nord Stream 1 to full operation, and that the pipeline itself has been rendered inoperable," Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
They said the decision to revoke the sanctions waiver was made after consulting with Germany and other European allies.
The office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he discussed "Europe's energy security, in particular related to critical supply chains" with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last month.
Here are the other top stories related to the war in Ukraine on Thursday, December 15:
US to expand training of Ukrainian forces in Germany
The US military will expand its training of Ukrainian military personnel in Germany, the Pentagon said, including training in combined arms.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said the new training will involve approximately 500 Ukrainians per month and will not require an increase in US troop deployments to Europe.
According to officials, the training will take place at the Grafenwöhr training area in Germany.
The US has already trained about 3,100 Ukrainian troops on how to use and maintain certain weapons and other equipment, including howitzers, armored vehicles and the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as HIMARS.
Ukraine army chief warns of new Russian assault on Kyiv
The commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces expects a new Russian attack on Kyiv in the early months of 2023, according to an interview with The Economist.
Much of the fighting has been concentrated in the east and south recently but General Valerii Zaluzhnyi told the British weekly the capital would be targeted again.
A "very important strategic task is to create reserves and prepare for the war which may take place in February, at best in March, and at worst at the end of January," he said in a December 3 interview released on Thursday.
"The Russians are preparing some 200,000 fresh troops. I have no doubt they will have another go at Kyiv," he said in the interview.
At the end of February, Moscow sent its forces into Ukraine with the aim of swiftly capturing Kyiv. In a victory for the Ukrainian army, the invaders were held up several kilometers from the capital before pulling back from the region at the end of March and early April.
UN rights commissioner warns of 'extreme hardship' of Ukraine winter
Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine are causing "extreme hardship" among the population, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has warned.
Over 10 million consumers — including families, businesses, hospitals and schools — are facing cuts in electricity, and millions are cut off from a regular supply of water and heat, Türk said.
"Additional strikes could lead to a further serious deterioration in the humanitarian situation and spark more displacement," he added.
Türk added that an estimated 1.5 million children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental conditions. Türk visited Ukraine last week and was briefing the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday.
US financial sanctions target one of Russia's richest men
The US announced financial sanctions targeting one of Russia's wealthiest men, Vladimir Potanin, the Treasury Department and State Department said.
The Treasury is sanctioning 18 entities related to Russia's financial services sector, while the State Department is designating Potanin, his network and more than 40 more people linked to the government in Moscow.
The designation of Rosbank and other entities related to Russia's financial sector "are part of the US government's efforts to further limit [Russia's] ability to fund its unconscionable war of choice against Ukraine," said the Treasury Department.
Rosbank is a Russia-based commercial bank acquired by Potanin earlier this year, and is considered a key credit institution to authorities, the Treasury statement added.
Potanin formerly served as a Deputy Prime Minister for the Russian Federation, and has direct ties to Vladimir Putin, according to the State Department.
14 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine — UN
More than 14 million metric tons of grain have been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal with Russia, easing global food prices, the United Nations said Thursday.
Rebeca Grynspan, head of the UN's trade and development agency UNCTAD which helped broker the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), said it had contributed to reduced world food prices for seven straight months.
The BSGI concerned the export of Ukrainian grain blocked by Russia's war. It was due to run out on November 19 but was extended for another 120 days.
Putin says Russia will fight sanctions with shift in trade and energy flows
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would expand trade cooperation with new partners in Asia, Africa and Latin America, including by sharply increasing gas exports to China, to combat Western sanctions.
"We will remove restrictions in logistics and finance. Let me remind you that by introducing sanctions, Western countries were trying to push Russia to the periphery of world development. But we will never take the route of self-isolation," he said.
Putin also said Russia would increase gas sales to "the east" and reiterated his plan to build a new "gas hub" in Turkey. He said it would define prices for gas sales to Europe using an "electronic platform".
Russia's economy is expected to shrink by 2.5% in 2022, Putin said, acknowledging certain "difficulties" but repeating his familiar line that Western economies have suffered a boomerang effect in the form of surging inflation resulting from their own sanctions.
Some Ukrainian refugees keen to stay in Germany permanently
Around a third, or 37%, of the more than one million Ukrainians who fled to Germany after the Russian invasion would like to settle permanently or for several years, a government-backed survey said on Thursday.
A poll of 11,225 refugees conducted by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees and other agencies, found that 2% of the refugees planned to leave within a year and 27% were undecided.
However, they have significantly lower life satisfaction than the German population, averaging 5.8 on a scale of ten, compared with 7.5 for Germans.
More than half of the refugees are enrolled in German language classes, but two out of every ten refugees said they had no or little understanding of German. The majority of children attend German schools and some attend daycare.
Some 17% of working-age Ukrainian refugees were employed.
Bar Poland, Germany has taken in more Ukrainians than any other European Union country. The majority who settled on the country cited the fact that family members, friends, or acquaintances already live there as a motive.
Donetsk hit by most massive shelling since 2014, says Russian-installed mayor
Donetsk was heavily shelled by Ukrainian forces, the Russian-appointed mayor of the occupied region said.
"At precisely 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), the centre of Donetsk was hit by the most massive shelling since 2014," Alexei Kulemzin said on Telegram.
At least one person was killed and at least nine others were injured in the attack, an official there told Frenchs news agency AFP.
Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
Kulemzin said around 40 rockets were fired at civilians Thursday, and posted images of cars and buildings destroyed.
UK says 'a successful new assault' by Russian and Belarusian troops unlikely
Troops taking part in joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus would be, "unlikely to constitute a force capable of conducting a successful new assault into northern Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence said.
Moscow deployed thousands of troops in Belarus, prompting fears the two countries could be planning an incursion across Ukraine's northern border.
"We have to be concerned," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told CNN earlier in the week, adding that Belarus was not a "friendly neighbor."
But in it is latest intelligence update the UK Ministry of Defence posted on Twitter it said while a "snap combat readiness inspection" took place in Belarus involving its own and Russian soldiers, a successful new assault was unlikely.
Russia rejects Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine
The Kremlin said, "no Christmas ceasefire" was on the cards in Ukraine, saying the topic is "not on the agenda."
"No, no proposals have been received from anyone and no topic of this kind is on the agenda," the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question on whether Russia would pause hostilities for the New Year or Christmas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Russia should start withdrawing by Christmas as a step to end the conflict.
The two sides were not engaged in any talks to end the fighting, with Wednesday seeing fresh drone attacks on the capital, Kyiv.
US mulls smart bomb kits for Ukraine
The United States is planning to provide Ukraine with electronics kits that convert unguided bombs into precision-guided aerial munitions, or smart bombs, The Washington Post reports.
This follows reports from Tuesday that the US is preparing to also send its sophisticated Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.
No official announcements have been made.
More DW content on the war in Ukraine
In Paris earlier this week, 700 companies attended a conference on helping Ukraine recover from the war. DW looks at the French companies vying to play a role in the mammoth reconstruction effort.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy rejected the participation of Russian athletes in the next Olympics in any capacity. During a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach he said, "the complete isolation of the terrorist state on the international stage. In particular, this applies to international sports events." Bach said last week that the status of Russian and Belarusian athletes' participation at the 2024 Paris Games was still unclear.
The EU parliament held a ceremony to award the 2022 Sakharov Prize to "the brave people of Ukraine." Ukrainian writer Serhiy Rudenko says although it is a nice gesture, only military support can end the war.
dh,zc,lo/es (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)