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UK government sees energy conservation measures as making Britain a ‘nanny state’

Liz Truss blocks energy saving campaign ‘on ideological grounds’.
Minister says government views public information campaign as ‘nanny
state’. Liz Truss has blocked plans for a public information campaign
asking people to save energy over the winter, reportedly because she is
“ideologically opposed” to the idea.

Ministers on Friday morning claimed
the idea was “nanny state” and confirmed that they would not be urging
people to keep an eye on their usage despite warnings from National Grid of
possibly rolling blackouts. Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg is said to
have been keen on a £15 million campaign as a relatively cost-effective
way of reducing the UK’s energy usage at a time of surging prices and
scarcity.

 Independent 7th Oct 2022

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-energy-saving-campaign-blocked-ideological-b2197566.html

October 7, 2022 Posted by | ENERGY, UK | Leave a comment

Zaporizhzhia on the brink: How deteriorating conditions at the nuclear power plant could lead to disaster

Bulletin, By Zakhar PopovychDenys I. BondarM.V. Ramana | October 7, 2022, Soon after it started its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Russian military occupied the southern part of the Zaporizhzhia region. The occupied area includes the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), the largest in Europe. During the summer, the area around the Zaporizhzhia NPP was hit multiple times by missiles and artillery. These affected all high-voltage electric power lines that connect the facility to the grid, so the plant was forced to work for some time in island mode, using the minimal power produced by one of the reactors to maintain functions essential to the plant’s safety. After the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, conducted its inspection on September 1st, Ukrainian maintenance teams were allowed by the Russian military to repair the power lines and refill the diesel fuel storage tanks needed for emergency power generators. This made it possible to supply the facility with external power for the reactor cooling and other maintenance systems.

On September 10, the three of us had a conversation via Zoom with Pavlo Oleshuk, a representative of Atomprofspilka, the nuclear energy and industry workers’ union of Ukraine. Oleshuk is an experienced member of the team that operates the Rivne NPP in northwest Ukraine. As an organizer with the union, he has been in close and constant contact with the employees who directly operate the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Oleshuk’s descriptions gave us new insight into the working and living conditions of his colleagues at the beleaguered plant. Such details have been otherwise difficult to get as plant operators have avoided talking in public ever since Russian forces seized the plant. Our discussion with Oleshuk lasted for more than two hours, and we offer here the main insights.

At the time we talked to Oleshuk, one of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia NPP was still operating. However, shortly after our conversation, EnergoAtom, the Ukrainian state nuclear power plant operator, decided to shut down all reactors there. Despite this decision, there is a continued risk of a major nuclear incident as the plant requires permanent cooling. Furthermore, as our discussion with Oleshuk reveals, other factors exacerbate the fragility of the situation at the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

Context. Oleshuk began with a description of Zaporizhzhia NPP and the city of Energodar, which means literally “the gift of energy.”………………………………………………….

Working under threats and intimidation. The Zaporizhzhia NPP, the city of Energodar, and the surrounding areas have all been under Russian occupation for the past few months. According to Oleshuk’s sources at the plant, Russian armed forces first took control of the nearby territory and peacefully approached the personnel of the power plant claiming that they would not intervene with the operations of the plant. But once the armed forces entered the plant’s premises, so did personnel from the FSB—Russia’s principal security agency and successor to the old KGB—and a couple of experts from Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation. …………………

For their part, the FSB personnel, unlike regular soldiers, violated the rules about who can access different areas of the plant and went everywhere within the premises, including inside radiation-controlled zones. But rather than taking control over the plant’s operations, the FSB agents seem to have been tasked with finding the so-called “ringleaders” who are organizing protests against the occupation ………………..

Over time, many more nuclear power plant workers have left Energodar for other cities that are still under the control of the Ukrainian government, creating a shortage of personnel at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. Even though some nuclear power plant maintenance functions can be carried out remotely, most cannot. As a result, there are concerns about the safety of these reactors and their associated systems.

Living without supplies. Because it is in Russian-occupied territory, residents of Energodar can no longer get their supplies from Ukraine-controlled territories, although they are located just across the Dnipro River. Instead, they must get them from other occupied territories—which means that even the supply of basic groceries is intermittent, with some food products simply no longer available………………….

Another major problem for the residents of Energodar is the collapse of utilities. ………………………

The supply of water supply has also become a problem since it relies exclusively on electric pumps and there are no water towers in Ukraine because the electricity supply was always considered to be reliable and abundant. ……………….

Outlook. With winter coming, the future is grim for the workers of the Zaporizhzhia NPP who still live in Energodar. Like other satellite cities, Energodar relies on the Zaporizhzhia NPP for most of its energy needs, including for heating……………………..

If both nuclear and thermal power plants cannot resume operation, then Energodar’s inhabitants will not be able to heat their living premises. The Ukrainian winter is cold with temperatures often being less than 20 degrees Celsius below zero (-4 degrees Fahrenheit). Plant workers don’t know how they will survive the winter.

Making an already desperate situation worse, there has been a loss of leadership and governance. The mayor of Energodar, Dmytro Orlov, was initially arrested by the Russians, but later managed to flee the city. The occupying forces did try to take over the city hall, but effectively the local authority has largely collapsed. The inhabitants are now left on their own.

According to Oleshuk, the situation is simply no longer tenable for the plant workers who are exhausted and stressed out. …………………more https://thebulletin.org/2022/10/zaporizhzhia-on-the-brink-how-deteriorating-conditions-at-the-nuclear-power-plant-could-lead-to-disaster/

October 7, 2022 Posted by | safety, Ukraine | Leave a comment

First containers sealed into Dounreay low level waste vaults

First containers sealed into Dounreay low level waste vaults. Dounreay’s
waste team is carrying out the first in a series of campaigns to seal the
waste into place in the low level waste vaults.

As part of the waste disposal process, the spaces between the containers in the low level waste
vault are being filled with grout. The team undertook a series of trials to
confirm that the grout would readily flow between the containers and also
tested the membranes that will be used to seal the grout shutters. A first
campaign of grouting has now been completed within the vault and 16 waste
packages have been sealed into their final positions. Further grouting
campaigns of increasing size are planned.

 NDA 5th Oct 2022

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/first-containers-sealed-into-dounreay-low-level-waste-vaults

October 7, 2022 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

The government’s price isn’t right for plutonium-contaminated land in Palomares (Almeria)

 https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/10/07/the-governments-price-isnt-right-for-plutonium-contaminated-land-in-palomares-almeria/By Linda Hall • 07 October 2022

FIFTY-SIX years on, Palomares is still suffering the effects of its infamous “nuclear incident.”

This occurred on January 17 in 1966 when four unarmed thermonuclear bombs were released after two US aircraft crashed in mid-air over the Mediterranean.

One bomb was found far out to sea but three fell on Palomares, releasing plutonium and contaminating an area of two square kilometres. The US army decontaminated some of the land but much remains untreated.

Spain’s central government announced in early October that it would soon be completing its estimate of the value of the plutonium-affected properties it intends to acquire.

“This would appear to be the first step in the clean-up plan drafted more than 10 years ago,” provincial media sources said.

Buying up the land was in the public interest “to safeguard residents’ health and permit a close watch on the land”, the government said, allocating €345,127 for the compulsory purchase of 324,073 square metres of land.

According to the same sources, the 30 owners involved, who include developers and agricultural growers, dismissed the €1 per square metre compensation as “laughable.”

They maintained that this was particularly risible after Spain’s Energy, Environmental and Technological Research Centre (CIEMAT) recommended a price of €17 per square metre of rural land and €83 for building land in a 2007 report to the Nuclear Safety Council.

Most of the land in question is located within the Cuevas del Almanzora boundaries although five properties belong to Vera.

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October 7, 2022 Posted by | - plutonium, Spain | Leave a comment

France’s nuclear energy strategy — once its pride and joy — faces big problems this winter

CNBC Sam Meredith, @SMEREDITH19 5 Oct 22,

  • Deep-rooted problems with France’s nuclear-heavy energy strategy are raising serious questions about its winter preparedness.
  • A long-standing source of national pride, France generates roughly 70% of its electricity from a nuclear fleet of 56 reactors, all operated by state-owned utility EDF.
  • In recent months, however, more than half of EDF’s nuclear reactors have been shut down for corrosion problems, maintenance and technical issues.

…………………….. more than half of EDF’s nuclear reactors have been shut down for corrosion problems, maintenance and technical issues in recent months, thanks in part to extreme heat waves and repair delays from the Covid pandemic. The outages have resulted in French power output falling to a near 30-year low just as the European Union faces its worst energy crisis in decades.

“I find the France nuclear relationship really interesting because it just bluntly shows you all of the pros and cons of nuclear,” Norbert Ruecker, head of economics and next generation research at Julius Baer, told CNBC via telephone.

“Yes, it’s low carbon but it’s not economic. You need to nationalize EDF to make it happen. Yes, it offers baseload but wait a second, sometimes a whole plant disappears for weeks and months, so that baseload promise is not really there,” Ruecker said.

……………………………………………… A ‘winter of discontent’?

French power prices climbed to a string of all-time highs this summer, peaking at an eyewatering level of around 1,100 euros ($1,073) per megawatt hour in late August. Analysts fear the country may struggle to produce enough nuclear energy to support both its own needs and those of its neighbors in the coming months.

Underlining the structural problems in the country’s nuclear fleet, France not only lost its position as Europe’s biggest exporter of electricity this year but also, remarkably, actually imported more power than it exported.

Data from energy analysts at EnAppSys that was published in July found that Sweden clinched the top spot as Europe’s largest net power exporter during the first six months of 2022. Prolonged outages in France’s nuclear fleet saw the country’s exports halve from the same period last year, and analysts at EnAppSys warned the situation showed “no signs of improving any time soon.”

To compensate, France imported expensive electricity from U.K., Germany, Spain and elsewhere.

“Thanks to the market, thanks to the power lines that we have, Europe saved France from a big blackout” this summer, Julius Baer’s Ruecker said.

“It was the U.K., Germany, Spain and to some extent Switzerland that all stepped in. So, for me, the past month really has just uncovered some of the political talk which was not always objective,” he added, referring to talk of nuclear energy as a climate solution among politicians…………………………………………………….

What does it mean for Europe?

France’s ailing power output has renewed criticism of its nuclear-heavy energy strategy at a time when many others in Europe are turning to atomic power as a replacement for a shortfall in Russian gas.

Germany, which initially planned to shutter its three remaining reactors by the end of the year, decided to delay its nuclear phaseout to shore up energy supplies this winter. The U.K., meanwhile, is seeking to ramp up its nuclear power generation, and the EU has listed nuclear energy among its list of “green” investments.

“It is important to say that if France has a nuclear problem, Europe has a problem as well in terms of electricity,” Alexandre Danthine, senior associate for the French power market at Aurora Energy Research, told CNBC via telephone.

“They are, in general, a big exporter, but in winter they need energy from neighboring countries in order to satisfy demands — whatever the situation,” Danthine said.

In France, Eurasia Group’s Rahman noted, Macron reacted angrily last month to suggestions, including from outgoing EDF boss Jean-Bernard Levy, that his “stop-start approach” to nuclear power in the last five years was partly responsible for the crisis.

In what was widely seen as a policy U-turn, Macron announced in February his intention for France to build at least six new nuclear reactors in the decades to come, with the option for another eight. At the start of his presidency, Macron had committed to reducing the share of nuclear power in the country’s energy mix.

The reversal controversially placed atomic power at the center of France’s bid to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of the century.

Advocates of nuclear power argue it has the potential to play a major role in helping countries generate electricity while slashing carbon emissions and reducing their reliance on fossil fuels.

To critics of the energy source, however, nuclear power is an expensive distraction to faster, cheaper and cleaner alternatives. Instead, environmental campaign groups argue technologies such as wind and solar should be prioritized in the planned shift to renewable energy sources.  https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/05/frances-nuclear-heavy-energy-strategy-faces-big-problems-this-winter.html

October 6, 2022 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Poland suggests hosting US nuclear weapons- ‘nuclear sharing’

Poland suggests hosting US nuclear weapons amid growing fears of Putin’s threats,  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/05/poland-us-nuclear-wars-russia-putin-ukraine Julian Borger in Washington, 6 Oct 22, Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, in September. He said there was ‘a potential opportunity’ for Poland to take part in ‘nuclear sharing’.

Poland says it has asked to have US nuclear weapons based on its territory, amid growing fears that Vladimir Putin could resort to using nuclear arms in Ukraine to stave off a rout of his invading army.

The request from the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, is widely seen as symbolic, as moving nuclear warheads closer to Russia would make them more vulnerable and less militarily useful, according to experts. Furthermore, the White House has said it had not received such a request.

“We’re not aware of this issue being raised and would refer you to the government of Poland,” a US official said.

Duda’s announcement appears to be the latest example of nuclear signalling as the US and its allies seek to deter Putin from the first nuclear use in battle since 1945, while preparing potential responses if deterrence fails that would have maximum punitive impact while containing the risk of escalation to all-out nuclear war.

October 6, 2022 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Ukraine War Exposes Risks to Deploying Small Nuclear Reactors

  • Small modular reactors are seen as the future of atomic energy
  • Russian seizure of atomic plant exposes safety vulnerabilities

By Jonathan Tirone, October 6, 2022, The Russian army’s seizure of the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe isn’t just exposing Ukrainians to the risk of an atomic accident but may also undermine plans to install new miniature reactors in far-flung places. ……… (subscribers only) more https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-05/ukraine-war-shows-new-risk-to-nuclear-power-s-next-small-thing#xj4y7vzkg

October 5, 2022 Posted by | Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Will Sizewell C nuclear really go ahead? EDF’s €60bn debt, and €52bn costs for French nuclear build.

 When EDF board members joined a video call in late August to discuss a landmark UK nuclear project, they were instead treated to a stand-off between the utility’s outgoing boss and the French state. Rather than signing off the Sizewell C plant in Suffolk as Jean-Bernard Lévy had pushed for, the biggest French power producer’s controlling shareholder demanded more time to finish new audit reports and the meeting descended into acrimony, according to people familiar with the discussions.

“Some people didn’t understand what they were doing there and why there wasn’t going to be a decision on anything,” one of the people said. “It was messy.” The episode, one of several clashes at the company to have spilled into the open in recent months, will provide little comfort to Lévy’s successor, Luc Rémont, who is due to take over as chief executive and chair just as Paris executes a plan to buy out the 16 per cent of EDF it does not already own.

While the nationalisation clarifies the ownership structure, the company could still be subject to demands from the French state that have not always been in its immediate interest, including that it shield consumers from soaring energy prices. Big strategic questions on everything from Sizewell to renewable energy investments, meanwhile, still loom large.

Rémont, currently a senior executive at industrial conglomerate Schneider Electric, will need to solve
the group’s short-term problems while also preparing EDF to take on some of France’s biggest nuclear construction projects in two decades — a period when it has struggled to complete any on time or on budget.

The company’s electricity output is on course to reach all-time lows this year, after corrosion problems at the company’s nuclear plants added to maintenance stoppages and led to the outage at one point of more than half the French fleet of 56 reactors. That has strained supplies across Europe just as the region pivots away from Russian gas, while also turning France into a net power importer for the first time.

French officials have so far insisted that the Sizewell C plant in Britain will go ahead, adding that the state had commissioned extra audits simply to calculate the financial consequences of removing a Chinese state-backed company from the project.

But the government may eventually want to revisit some of its choices, bankers and union representatives close to EDF said, particularly as the group grapples with costly investments. By the end of this year, EDF’s
net debt is already forecast to swell to about €60bn, while its French construction programme alone could cost another €52bn.

 FT 5th Oct 2022

https://www.ft.com/content/559ce578-fa0d-4bbe-9860-9d512b1510e1

October 5, 2022 Posted by | business and costs, France, UK | Leave a comment

Macron’s nuclear dream means attacking environmental law, and is no help to the climate

 Attacking environmental law to accelerate the construction of new nuclear reactors: Macron’s assumed project.

On September 22, on the occasion of the inauguration of the St Nazaire maritime wind farm, and once again anticipating the public debate supposed to be held on the EPR projects in Penly, Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his project of a “deployment of a forced-march nuclear strategy” (sic!). On this occasion, he announced an acceleration of the procedures supposed to make it possible to start the first reactors even earlier than planned.

Barely a week later, the dedicated bill reached the National Council for Ecological Transition, summoned to make a decision within an extremely short time. This forced passage and the assumed deconstruction of environmental law presented in this text are quite simply shameful.

But trampling on the law and democracy will not make the problems of a sector undermined by a lack of skills, and of a technology that is too slow and too cumbersome to respond to the climate emergency, disappear with a magic wand.

 Sortir du Nucleaire 28th Sept 2022

https://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/Attaquer-le-droit-de-l-environnement-pour

October 5, 2022 Posted by | environment, France | Leave a comment

State ministry reports leak at German nuclear plant, experts investigating

  State ministry reports leak at German nuclear plant, experts investigating | Reuters

BERLIN, Oct 5 (Reuters) – A leak occurred during flushing measures on a discharge line at the nuclear power plant in Brunsbuettel, northern Germany, on Sept. 28, the energy ministry of Schleswig-Holstein said on Wednesday.

The defective line is part of the concentrate treatment system and is located in the restricted area of the reactor building of the nuclear power plant, a statement said, adding that a small radioactive contamination was detected.

The reactor safety authority has tasked experts with conducting further supervisory reviews in the matter.

The Brunsbuettel nuclear power plant has already been permanently shut down since 2007. The decommissioning permit was issued at the end of 2018 and dismantling of the plant has begun.

Writing by Rachel More, Editing by Miranda Murray

October 5, 2022 Posted by | Germany, incidents | Leave a comment

Nuclear test veterans: Stik sculpture unveiled at Kent army museum

 https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-63136372 By Tanya Gupta, 5 Oct 22, BBC News

A model of a soldier ordered to turn his back and cover his face against a nuclear blast has gone on display at the Royal Engineers Museum in Kent.

London street artist Stik spent a year listening to veterans who witnessed nuclear tests in the 1950s to come up with the “terrified, lone figure”.

He said he wanted to show the vulnerability of the soldiers, but also their resilience and strength.

The model will be cast into bronze to create the final sculpture.

In a rare interview, the reclusive artist said he wanted to show human vulnerability, adding: “They were boys when they were sent out to witness an atomic bomb. Some were 16, 17, 18.”

Witnesses have described sitting with their back to the blast but feeling the heat and the force, and being able to see the light through their hands

The sculpture was unveiled at the Gillingham museum during the British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association’s (BNTVA) annual conference, which is staged in Ashford on the 70th anniversary of Britain’s first weapons test off Western Australia.

For decades, the veterans have fought campaigns for medals, recognition, compensation and an apology from the government, after they witnessed tests with their backs turned to the blast, hands over their eyes, and with no protective clothing.

Many are concerned there is a link between their radiation exposure and ill-health, including cancers.

The Cabinet Office has said it is providing nearly half a million pounds to support veterans. It also said it would hold an oral history project and a commemorative event.

The Ministry of Defence has previously said there was “no valid evidence” linking the nuclear tests to ill-health.

October 5, 2022 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear fusion – public money wasted on this unproven technology

 UK ministers have been criticised for “pouring billions of pounds of
public money into unproven technology” by pressed ahead with nuclear
fusion investment. The warning comes after North Ayrshire lost out on
becoming the site of the UK’s first fusion energy plant having been
shortlisted.

 Herald 4th Oct 2022

https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/23019671.uk-government-fire-wasting-public-money-unproven-technology-nuclear-plan/

October 5, 2022 Posted by | technology, UK | Leave a comment

Kremlin steps back from call to use nuclear weapons

Kremlin takes distance from Kadyrov’s call to use nuclear bomb in Ukraine

EURACTIV.com with Reuters, Oct 3, 2022,

The Kremlin on Monday (3 October) said it favoured a “balanced approach” to the issue of nuclear weapons, not based on emotion, after a key ally of President Vladimir Putin called over the weekend for Russia to use a “low-yield nuclear weapon” in Ukraine.

Asked about the comments by Ramzan Kadyrov, leader of the Chechnya region, who also criticised Russia’s military leadership over battlefield setbacks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had the right to voice his opinion, but that Russia’s military approach should not be driven by emotions.

“This is a very emotional moment. The heads of regions have the right to express their point of view,” Peskov said in a call with reporters on Monday.

“But even in difficult moments, emotions should be kept out of any kind of assessment. So we prefer to stick to balanced, objective assessments.”

Peskov said the basis for any use of nuclear weapons was set down in Russia’s nuclear doctrine.

Those guidelines allow for the use of nuclear weapons if they – or another weapon of mass destruction – are used against Russia, or if the Russian state faces an existential threat from conventional weapons.

“There can be no other considerations when it comes to this,” said Peskov.

The Kremlin has made clear that those nuclear protections extend to the four regions of Ukraine that Moscow is in the process of formally annexing……………………………….  https://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/kremlin-takes-distance-from-kadyrovs-call-to-use-nuclear-bomb-in-ukraine/

October 3, 2022 Posted by | Russia, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Truss caves in to Mirror’s demands to mark ‘Plutonium Jubilee’ with gift for nuclear test vet

The heroes of Britain’s Cold War radiation experiments and their families welcomed the news, but said it did not go far enough to address the tests’ legacy of cancers, early death and birth defects

Mirror, By Fleet Street Fox, Columnist, 3 Oct 2022,

Prime Minister Liz Truss has caved to the Mirror’s demands to mark the ‘Plutonium Jubilee’ with a £450,000 gift for nuclear test veterans.

The heroes of Britain’s Cold War radiation experiments and their families welcomed the news, but said it did not go far enough to address the tests’ legacy of cancers, early death and birth defects.

More than half the money – £250,000 – will go to an academic or cultural institution to record oral histories of survivors. The remaining £200,000 will be available for veterans’ charities to bid for.

But that will be equivalent to just £133 a head for the estimated 1,500 ex-servicemen still alive.

The government will also host an event to “celebrate the unique and significant contributions of those involved in testing and developing our nuclear deterrent”.

It was announced on the same day as the 70th anniversary of Operation Hurricane – the Plutonium Jubilee, which marks Britain’s first atomic bomb test.

Alan Owen, of campaign group LABRATS, said: “It’s very welcome news, and a direct result of the meeting we had with Boris Johnson following the Mirror’s Look Me In The Eye campaign.

“In fact, it was the Mirror that asked, in that meeting, for a ceremony of national acknowledgement to allay veterans’ anger, and that will be a huge leap forward if we get it. But this money is a pittance in the grand scheme of things, and there’s still no medal, no apology, no acknowledgement.”

The money won’t be available until April next year – and there are fears some survivors, who are now all in their 80s, may not benefit from it.

Minister for the Armed Forces and Veterans, James Heappey, said the test veterans “played a crucial role in keeping Britain and our NATO allies safe”.

He added: “Their sacrifice contributed to achieving the ultimate guarantee of UK sovereignty and they forever have this nation’s gratitude.

“I look forward to commemorating the incredible service and efforts of our veterans.”  https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/truss-caves-mirrors-demands-mark-28145217

October 3, 2022 Posted by | health, UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

NATO ‘not obliged’ to assist Ukraine — German ambassador

Rt.com 2 Oct 22, Berlin’s envoy to the military bloc clarifies that NATO won’t actively fight for a non-member state.

Germany’s permanent representative to NATO has explained that the US-led bloc is not obliged to offer direct military assistance to Ukraine. Ruediger Koenig added that its members want to avoid a major war.

He was speaking to Dein Spiegel, the youth version of Der Spiegel magazine, which published the interview on Saturday.

The Ukraine conflict dominated much of the article, with Koenig describing Russia’s decision to launch its offensive against its neighbor in late February as a watershed event…….

Germany’s representative to NATO stressed that the military alliance as a whole, however, has no legal obligation to help Kiev repel Moscow’s attack as Ukraine is not a member state. This means that Article 5 of NATO’s treaty cannot be activated, the official explained. Under it, an attack on one ally is considered to be an attack against the whole of NATO, with all member states having to stick up for the targeted nation.

According to Koenig, the military bloc is anxious to avoid getting actively involved in the conflict at all costs because “this would mean a very big war.

Such a scenario, which would see 30 more nations join the fray, is something “nobody wants,” the diplomat noted…………..

He concluded that the prospect of peace is rather slim as Ukraine and Russia’s positions seem to be irreconcilable. Koenig clarified that Ukraine “rightly” demands that Moscow cede all former Ukrainian regions in the south and east of the country that recently voted to join Russia, as well as Crimea, which joined the country in 2014. The official pointed out that the Kremlin, however, is unlikely to agree to such terms.  https://www.rt.com/news/563942-germany-nato-envoy-ukraine-kids/

October 3, 2022 Posted by | EUROPE, politics international, weapons and war | Leave a comment