On the eve of direct negotiations, arrests in Germany and Switzerland for sabotage on European territory on behalf of the Russian secret services
On the eve of the direct negotiations between Ukraine And Russia to Istanbulthe Kremlin maintains the maximum reserve on the composition of its delegation and on the possible presence of the president Vladimir Putin. “We will make the composition of the delegation on Thursday, when Putin decides,” said the Cremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskovfeeding uncertainty about a possible meeting to the top. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov He will not take part in the talks scheduled for tomorrow in Istanbul between delegations of Moscow and Kiev, aimed at exploring a possible peace agreement. The Russian newspaper reports it Kommersantciting an anonymous source close to the dossier.
Meanwhile, the President of the United States Donald Trump he hinted that he could reach Turkey in the event that also the Russian president Vladimir Putin should go In Istanbul To meet the Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. “I don’t know if it will go there. But I know that he would please him if I was there too. It is a hypothesis, “Trump said speaking with journalists aboard the Air Force One, during the flight between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
New penalties for Russia by the European Union
In the meantime, the European Union has approved the 17th package of sanctions against Moscow, aimed at hitting the Russian economy hard. According to diplomatic sources, the new package will be among the most severe launched so far. The United States and European partners are preparing for an escalation of punitive measures: “It is necessary to impose devastating penalties to stop the war in Ukraine” “, said the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrotwho will meet the American senator in Istanbul tomorrow Lindsey Graham which proposed 500% rates on imports of Russian oil and similar measures for the countries that continue to buy it. “It’s a way to take Russia in the throat,” he said Barrot. Parallel, Moscow intensifies military pressure. The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced a series of attacks against Ukrainian military infrastructures, in particular airports. According to reports from the Russian media, the Russian armed forces would have affected ammunition deposits, temporary bases and launch centers for drones and pilot boats in at least 141 districts. On the diplomatic front, the meeting in Ankara between the Ukrainian president is confirmed Volodymyr Zelensky and the Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. According to sources of the Ukrainian embassy in Türkiye, it is not yet if Zelensky will arrive already today or tomorrow. However, if Putin It should be presented to the negotiations of Istanbul Thursday, both the Ukrainian leader and the Turkish leader will move to the city on the Bosphorus.
In an interview with Der SpiegelZelensky made an appeal Donald Trump: «He must convince himself that Putin is lying. It is not we who hinder peace, and we must demonstrate it with the facts, because other countries understand the truth ». Italy also closely follows the developments. The Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni He had a telephone interview with Erdogan. According to reports from Palazzo Chigithe two leaders reiterated the common commitment to support a “right and lasting peace”. Meloni thanked Turkey for the willingness to host the interviews and urged Russia “to accept a total and unconditional fire of 30 days as a concrete signal of opening to dialogue”.
Arrests in Germany and Switzerland for sabotage on European territory on behalf of the Russian secret services
As we write, it is learned that the German authorities arrested three Ukrainian citizens suspected of planning sabotage operations on European territory on behalf of the Russian secret services. According to what reported by the newspaper Der Spiegelthe arrests took place in recent days in Costanza, Cologne and in the Canton Turgovia, Switzerland. The three suspects, all of Ukrainian nationality, are accused of espionage activities for sabotage. The investigations conducted by the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office hypothesize a coordinated plan aimed at performing serious destructive acts, including arsoned fires and explosions, against logistical infrastructures in Germany. The arrests were carried out on the order of the Prosecutor General Jens Rommel: two men were stopped during the weekend, the third Tuesday evening.
The investigative authorities believe that the three suspects have made Russian intelligence under a mandate. Among the contested activities, logistics tests carried out by sending packages equipped with devices emerge GPS A addresses in Ukraine. The goal, according to the investigators, would have been to map routes and timing of transport. According to the reconstruction of the Süddeutsche Zeitungone of the arrested would have purchased the GPS locators in Switzerland, another would have managed the operation from Costanza, while the third would have sent the colony. The case fits into an atmosphere of growing alarm for the Russian clandestine activities in Europe, in particular in relation to possible attacks against critical infrastructures. Among the precedents evoked by the investigators there is an episode of 2023, when a bomb package exploded at Leipzig airport causing a suspected fire fire. The investigation remains open and is also followed carefully by the Swiss authorities, in close coordination with the German ones. The investigations intend to clarify the extension of the network and ascertain whether there have been other attempts and operations completed.
