Any foreign troops in Ukraine would be seen by Russia as legitimate targets, Moscow says
Back to Ukraine, Russia said that any multinational force sent by Ukraine’s allies to deploy there in the event of a peace deal would be unacceptable to Moscow, which would view it as a threat and a legitimate military target, Reuters reported.
Western allies in the pro-Ukraine “coalition of the willing” met in Paris this week and reaffirmed their intention to deploy such a force after a cessation of hostilities, in order to reassure Ukraine and help it to regenerate its forces.
“In this context, we would like to reiterate that the deployment of any military contingents from countries of the so-called ’coalition of the willing’ to Ukraine is unacceptable to our country,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.
“I repeat: this would amount, de facto, to foreign intervention and an escalation of threats to Russia’s security. We would regard such units as legitimate military targets.“
Key events
For what it’s worth, Orbán’s long time foreign minister’s career change (15:20) was sort of ironically welcomed by the new Hungarian prime minister, Péter Magyar, who said in a post on Facebook that at least “it will not be the Hungarian people who will pay [Szijjártó] for the same work, but his actual employer.”
In his first reaction to the news, he alleged a link between Peter Szijjártó’s new role with BYD and his acts in the office which he claimed amounted to “lobbying for huge Hungarian state subsidies” for the carmaker.
“It may become obvious to Fidesz voters in retrospect whose interests the former foreign minister of the failed Orbán government represented in connection with the trillion-dollar battery and automotive industry investments,” he said.
Magyar also mocked “the complete disintegration” of Orbán’s Fidesz party, with its leading MPs “abandoning the sinking ship one after another.”
Junior foreign minister György László Velkey sarcastically wished Szijjártó best of luck in his new job. He added, however, that while he can give up his mandate, he will not be able to escape scrutiny of his actions in the previous government.
“We will continue the due diligence at the ministry of foreign affairs: we will examine every contract, every decision, every tax forint spent,” he said.
Any foreign troops in Ukraine would be seen by Russia as legitimate targets, Moscow says
Back to Ukraine, Russia said that any multinational force sent by Ukraine’s allies to deploy there in the event of a peace deal would be unacceptable to Moscow, which would view it as a threat and a legitimate military target, Reuters reported.
Western allies in the pro-Ukraine “coalition of the willing” met in Paris this week and reaffirmed their intention to deploy such a force after a cessation of hostilities, in order to reassure Ukraine and help it to regenerate its forces.
“In this context, we would like to reiterate that the deployment of any military contingents from countries of the so-called ’coalition of the willing’ to Ukraine is unacceptable to our country,” Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told reporters.
“I repeat: this would amount, de facto, to foreign intervention and an escalation of threats to Russia’s security. We would regard such units as legitimate military targets.“
Former Hungarian foreign minister under Orbán says he will join Chinese carmaker BYD
In other news, Hungary’s former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó, who served as one of the closest loyalists of ousted prime minister Viktor Orbán who regularly visited Moscow for political talks despite ongoing war against Ukraine, has got a new job.
In a post on Facebook, Szijjártó announced he will be resigning from his job as an MP to join the Chinese carmaker BYD, working on external relations and business development.
The Hungarian media reported that his job will be a part of the international executive team, and not the carmaker’s national operations in Hungary.
Merz warns US against interfering with German elections with grants
In one of the stand-out moments of the press conference, Merz also got asked about reported US plans to support ideologically aligned groups in Europe with financial grants – and whether it could help the likes of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party.
“For our part, we do not interfere in American elections,” Merz said. “And conversely, I do not want the American government or institutions close to the government to interfere in German elections.”
He added that it was illegal to finance German political parties from abroad, and “I assume that our friends in the world… will also abide by these legal rules.”
Germany’s Merz defends his associate EU membership proposal for Ukraine, Balkans
Merz also got asked about his proposal for an “associate membership” for Ukraine and recent his push for western Balkan countries to be admitted to the EU.
He said the concept got mixed reception in Ukraine because of domestic political reasons, but he was ready to stand by the idea, which he argued was well received by other EU leaders.
“We have not admitted a new member to the EU for 13 years,” he said, “even though we promised accession to the EU to a whole range of countries in Europe.”
He said the EU either needed to take these promises back and say it’s impossible for anyone to join – “that would be the worst solution for everyone” – or push to make some, any, progress, “step by step”.
“You can call it something else,” he said, but defends the idea of a sort of half-membership without voting rights.
He accepted the accession process is “complicated” and may not be able to progress as quickly as some would want it to, but he said he was determined for the EU to “remain credible” with its promises of membership.
“If we lose this credibility, we lose more than that; we lose these countries, and geopolitically that would be the worst thing that could happen to us, Europeans,” he says.
On Nato, Merz also said that the European member states recognise the need to step up on its defence capabilities, as he calls the Ankara summit a “success.” But “Nato must become more European so it can remain transatlantic,” he repeats the latest mantra.
Merz’s Q&A is mostly focused on domestic issues – including the immediate risk of far-right Alternative für Deutschland potentially coming to power in two states this autumn – but he also briefly discussed the EU and Germany’s foreign policy.
He said he always wanted Germany to be “play a stronger role” in the bloc, and thinks this has worked out well with Berlin already influencing the bloc’s positions on the European single market and restoring competitiveness.
He said that these reforms were desperately needed to put the EU in the best possible position as “the entire liberal global order is still under pressure.”
“I keep pointing out: we have 100 million inhabitants more in the European Union than the United States of America, so we could be much stronger if we worked better together. I want to promote that. I want to try to achieve that.”
He also defended himself from criticism for being too focused on foreign policy, saying that its impossible to consider this a separate issue given how interlinked they are with Germany’s domestic situation, be it economically or in terms of national security.
On AfD, he repeated that he could not see a situation in which he would work with the far-right party, and urged voters to look at his government’s actual track record, not the commentary or viral posts on social media.
But Merz said that “the election campaigns are just getting under way,” and that he remained confident “we would succeed in preventing the AfD from securing a majority” in the states.
“And I will maintain this optimism right up to election night.”
Germany’s Merz speaks to media at his summer press conference
Jakub Krupa
I am also keeping an eye on lines coming out from German chancellor Friedrich Merz’s summer press conference in Berlin.
It’s a chance to ask him more questions than usual. Let’s see what he says.
I will bring you any lines of interest.
Latvia’s president backs Lithuania’s warnings on Russia’s sabotage, attack plans
Meanwhile, Latvia’s president Edgars Rinkēvičs has backed up Lithuania’s Gitanas Nausėda warnings about Russian plans for a potential attack or sabotage attempt on the EU and Nato’s eastern flank (10:06).
Speaking alongside Nausėda during his visit to Vilnius, Rinkēvičs said:
“Information we are getting from Lithuanian, Latvian and other Nato states, from various agencies there, shows various attempts to do sabotage and to lower the security in our states.”
He also warned that as Russia will be unable to make progress on its war against Ukraine, it could try to test Nato’s resolve instead, LRT reported.
Jakub Krupa
The ceremony in Kyiv continues (or, more accurately, the delayed re-broadcast of the ceremony), with Moldova’s president Maia Sandu speaking next.
I will keep an eye on these speeches and bring you any lines of interest.
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