Germany believes talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine could become possible in the coming months. European governments are discussing who could represent them in negotiations as U.S.-led efforts remain stalled.
Dutch military personnel at Volkel Air Base fired at several drones flying over the facility on Friday evening, the Defence Ministry said. F-35 stealth fighters of the Royal Netherlands Air and Space Force are stationed at the air base located near the city of Nijmegen, close to the German border.
Russia’s war on Ukraine has prompted Germany to revisit its defence posture, which increasingly suffered from a lack of investment since the end of the Cold War as imminent threats appeared to diminish. The legislation must now pass through Germany’s two houses of parliament. It could come into force in May of next year.
A new NATO overview says the record €90.6B on defence expenditure, to which Berlin committed for the first time this year, corresponds to a 2.12 percent share of the forecast German GDP, and is higher than expected at the beginning of the year.
German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck: “Ukraine does not have enough defensive weapons to protect the lives of its people. It is only logical that Ukraine should defend itself by being able to prevent attacks from Russia. Prohibiting it from doing so would mean the death of more people.”
The first batch of Indians evacuated from the strife-torn north African nation of Libya will land here in a special Air India flight close to midnight Saturday, officials said, while three Indian warships set sail to Libya to help in the evacuation of the 18,000 Indians in the country.
US President Barack Obama cited the Libyan government’s ‘continued violation of human rights, brutalization of its people and outrageous threats’.
India has begun evacuating its citizens early Saturday from violence-stricken Libya by sending two Air India planes to the north African country’s capital Tripoli. Two Indian warships, INS Mysore and the Austin-class amphibious transport dock INS Jalashwa slipped their moorings in Mumbai on Saturday and are underway for Alexandria, which they expect to reach in a little over a week.
