Latest on Russia-Ukraine news: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday opposed any move to cut off the energy supplies from Russia. The recent statement shows the growing divergence in Europe. Scholz called imports of oil and gas from Russia as “essential importance”.
Earlier, Polish government officials said that Poland has not, and will not, send its fighter jets to Ukraine to support Ukraine's defense against Russia. A deputy foreign minister, Marcin Przydacz, said in an interview on Radio Zet that: “We will not open our airports and Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine … Polish planes will not fight over Ukraine.”
The comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy begged the United States to help Kyiv get more warplanes to fight Russia's invasion and retain control of its airspace. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was looking at a proposal under which Poland would supply Kyiv with Soviet-era fighters and in turn receive American F-16s to make up for their loss.
Poland has been less than enthusiastic about the idea, at least publicly, largely because Russia has warned that supporting Ukraine's air force would be seen in Moscow as participating in the conflict and could create a risk of retaliation.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in a joint press conference with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday said that London and other Western governments are seriously considering sanctions on Russian energy exports in response to the ongoing military operation in Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine in response to calls from the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics to defend themselves against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger.
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