Canada revokes Nord Stream sanctions waiver – DW – 12/15/2022
Canada will no longer allow Nord Stream turbines to be repaired in Montreal and returned to Germany, the Canadian government announced on Wednesday.
Authorities in Canada have revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that would have allowed the transportation and repair of a damaged turbine.
The Nord Stream pipeline — which is partially owned by Russia — was wound down for repairs on August 31. But the gas flow never restarted and in September a series of explosions led to a gas leak.
“Putin has been forced to show that his intention was never to return Nord Stream 1 to full operation, and that the pipeline itself has been rendered inoperable,” Foreign Minister Melanie Joly and Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
They said the decision to revoke the sanctions waiver was made after consulting with Germany and other European allies.
The office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he discussed “Europe’s energy security, in particular related to critical supply chains” with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz last month.
Here are the other top stories related to the war in Ukraine on Thursday, December 15:
Donetsk hit by most massive shelling since 2014, says Russian-installed mayor
Donetsk was heavily shelled by Ukrainian forces, the Russian-appointed mayor of the occupied region said.
“At precisely 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT), the centre of Donetsk was hit by the most massive shelling since 2014,” Alexei Kulemzin said on Telegram.
At least one person was killed and at least nine others were injured in the attack, an official there told Frenchs news agency AFP.
Donetsk in eastern Ukraine has been occupied by Russian forces since 2014.
Kulemzin said around 40 rockets were fired at civilians Thursday, and posted images of cars and buildings destroyed.
UK says ‘a successful new assault’ by Russian and Belarusian troops unlikely
Troops taking part in joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus would be, “unlikely to constitute a force capable of conducting a successful new assault into northern Ukraine, according to the UK Ministry of Defence said.
Moscow deployed thousands of troops in Belarus, prompting fears the two countries could be planning an incursion across Ukraine’s northern border.
“We have to be concerned,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told CNN earlier in the week, adding that Belarus was not a “friendly neighbor.”
But in it is latest intelligence update the UK Ministry of Defence posted on Twitter it said while a “snap combat readiness inspection” took place in Belarus involving its own and Russian soldiers, a successful new assault was unlikely.
Russia rejects Christmas ceasefire in Ukraine
The Kremlin said, “no Christmas ceasefire” was on the cards in Ukraine, saying the topic is “not on the agenda.”
“No, no proposals have been received from anyone and no topic of this kind is on the agenda,” the Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in response to a question on whether Russia would pause hostilities for the New Year or Christmas.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said this week that Russia should start withdrawing by Christmas as a step to end the conflict.
The two sides were not engaged in any talks to end the fighting, with Wednesday seeing fresh drone attacks on the capital, Kyiv.
US mulls smart bomb kits for Ukraine
The United States is planning to provide Ukraine with electronics kits that convert unguided bombs into precision-guided aerial munitions, or smart bombs, The Washington Post reports.
This follows reports from Tuesday that the US is preparing to also send its sophisticated Patriot air defense system to Ukraine.
No official announcements have been made.
More DW content on the war in Ukraine
In Paris earlier this week, 700 companies attended a conference on helping Ukraine recover from the war. DW looks at the French companies vying to play a role in the mammoth reconstruction effort.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy rejected the participation of Russian athletes in the next Olympics in any capacity. During a meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Thomas Bach he said, “the complete isolation of the terrorist state on the international stage. In particular, this applies to international sports events.” Bach said last week that the status of Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation at the 2024 Paris Games was still unclear.
The EU parliament held a ceremony to award the 2022 Sakharov Prize to “the brave people of Ukraine.” Ukrainian writer Serhiy Rudenko says although it is a nice gesture, only military support can end the war.
zc,lo/es (AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa)