Germany’s Scholz: Putin’s war against Ukraine part of larger crusade against West

BERLIN, Oct 13 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored the implications of the war in Ukraine for the West in a speech on Thursday, calling it part of a crusade by Russia against liberal democracy.

“(Russian President) Vladimir Putin and his enablers have made one thing very clear: this war is not only about Ukraine. They consider their war against Ukraine to be part of a larger crusade, a crusade against liberal democracy,” said Scholz in a recorded speech at the Progressive Governance Summit in Berlin.

In Other Developments:

DIPLOMACY

* The United States reaffirmed its commitment to defend “every inch” of NATO territory ahead of talks among defense ministers from the alliance on Thursday that will include closed-door discussions by its nuclear planning group.

* Germany said more than a dozen NATO partners aim to jointly procure air defence systems that protect European allied territory from missiles, eyeing Israel’s Arrow 3 system, U.S. Patriot and German IRIS-T units among the options.

* The head of Ukraine’s state nuclear energy company on Thursday decried as “fake news” Russian assertions that the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will need Russian fuel

* Presidents Putin of Russia and Erdogan of Turkey will meet for talks in Kazakhstan; Turkey is likely to raise ideas for peace in Ukraine, a Kremlin aide said.

* Putin will also meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani of fellow major gas producer Qatar.

* The Kremlin scolded Western leaders for engaging in “provocative” nuclear rhetoric after a series of warnings from Russia, the United States and NATO on the dangers of the Ukraine conflict becoming a nuclear war.

* But a Russian official warned of World War Three if Ukraine is admitted NATO. Ukraine is unlikely to be admitted into NATO any time soon.

CONFLICT

* Three drone strikes hit the small town of Makariv, west of Kyiv, with officials saying critical infrastructure facilities were hit by what they said were Iran-made suicide drones.

* Russian missiles hit the port city of Mykolaiv. A five-storey residential building was hit, the two upper floors completely destroyed, the rest is under rubble with rescuers working on the site, said Mayor Oleksandr Senkevich.

* The top U.S. general on Wednesday condemned indiscriminate Russian missile strikes on Ukraine that killed civilians, suggesting they met the definition of war crimes.

* At least seven people were killed and eight injured in a Russian strike on a crowded market in the frontline town of Avdiivka, the governor of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said.

* Russia hit about 30% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in its missile attacks on Monday and Tuesday, Ukraine’s energy minister said.