German finance minister defends planned US missile deployment
US Tomahawk missiles could reach targets within RussiaImage: Department of Defense/ZUMAPRESS.com/picture alliance
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has voiced his support for stationing long-range US missiles in Germany, saying that the deployment will be an important deterrent in the face of Russian aggression.
“Germany has been within range of Russia’s nuclear-capable missiles for years. It is therefore of paramount importance to us that we establish a balance of deterrence,” Lindner told the Funke media group in comments published on Sunday.
Berlin and Washington announced in July that long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 air-defense missiles would be deployed in Germany from 2026, drawing threats of a response in kind from Moscow.
The plan has met with criticism from several parties, including the Social Democrats (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who want the issue to be debated in parliament.
Lindner, whose business-friendly Free Democrats form part of Germany’s three-way coalition government, also highlighted the importance of the US for Europe’s defense in general no matter who is in the White House.
“I am not resigned to the fact that the trans-Atlantic partnership is weakening,” he said. “Even with difficult dialogue partners, we will have to do everything we can to convince the US that engagement in Europe is in its own interests.”
Missile attacks kill father and son near Kyiv: Emergency service
An overnight Russian missile attack near the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, has killed a 35-year-old man and his 4-year-old son, Ukraine’s emergency service has said.
The bodies of the two were found among rubble by rescue teams after fragments of a missile hit residential buildings in the district of Brovary next to Kyiv, a Telegram posting said.
Three other people, including a 13-year-old child, were seriously injured, the emergency service said.
Kursk regional governor Alexei Smirnov said 13 people had been injured in Kursk city, two of them seriously, when debris from a downed Ukrainian missile fell on a building during the night.
The acting governor of Kursk oblast in Russia, Alexei Smirnov, said on Saturday night that he had “instructed” the head of the Belovsky district of the region — in southwestern Kursk, near the border to the Sumy region of Ukraine — to “speed up” the implementation of orders to evacuate civilians.
Authorities declared a state of emergency in Kursk and called on people to leave some border areasImage: Vladimir Gerdo/TASS/picture alliance
Russian authorities have been scrambling to relocate people this week amid a surprise Ukrainian incursion into parts of Kursk. Russia’s government has also been keen to describe the incursion as an escalation.
Although Ukrainian forces are not thought to control any of the territory, they appear to have established a disruptive presence that stretches quite far into the area, at least based on what analysts can observe via satellite.
Russian media, including the state-owned TASS news agency, on Saturday quoted the region’s emergency situations ministry as saying that “more than 76,000 people” had been “temporarily relocated to safe places.”
Russian regional governors Andrei Vorobyov and Igor Shchogolev spoke to reporters in Russia about relocation efforts at a camp accomodating children on SaturdayImage: Sofya Sandurskaya/TASS/picture alliance
Russia also said on Friday that it was sending additional military equipment and personnel to the area over the weekend.
Russia sends reinforcements to counter Ukrainian attack
We strive to produce competitive media products that meet the needs of readers and advertisers, to make the company profitable, and to meet the expectations of the owners and employees of the publishing house.
The mission of is based on two main strategies shared by each employee: continuous professional growth and compliance with the standards of quality journalism
