PROPOSED AUSTRIA/SWEDISH SOLUTION: Russia says ongoing peace talks now include discussions on Ukraine’s status a neutral, demilitarized country that may have a limited and separate army and navyimitate Austria and Sweden. Ukraine, who had stopped Russia’s advance and went to counter attacks outside Kyiv and Kherson, among others, is open to a negotiated solution, but rejects Russia’s ultimatum and requires legally binding security guarantees. The status of the Crimean peninsula and the Donbass region is one of the most problematic issues that persist even if the parties agree on the future status of Ukraine’s security policy. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the Russian press today that the country is also complying with requirements related to the Russian language and Russian media in Ukraine.
SPEAKING FOR THE CONgress: Today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky received a standing ovation from the united US Congress for the speech he gave via video link today. Zelensky called on the United States to do more to stop the war and argued that it was more about the fate of Ukraine – about “democracy, freedom and choose one’s own path. And about Europe and the world ». The president knows what buttons to press in the American public, with references to Pearl Harbor and 9/11 and paraphrases from Martin Luther King Jr. The video he started showing, you can also see here. I
INTERROGATION FOR 14 HOURS: Marina Ovsynnikova, the woman revered as a hero by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron after interrupting Russian TV broadcasts on Channel One with anti-war posters, says she was interrogated for 14 hours without access to legal aid. He should also not be allowed to contact friends and family during detention. When she met the press in Moscow on Tuesday evening, Ovsynnikova described it as a “difficult situation”, and said continue that «don’t be afraid. They can’t imprison us all.” So far, Ovsynnikova has been fined 30,000 rubles (approximately NOK 2,500) for interrupting the news broadcast, and he denies criminal guilt for accusing him of organizing an unauthorized public event. It is not clear if he can be punished under Russia’s new media law. Read Filter News’ recent long read on what’s happening in the Russian media world today, with the introduction of new censorship laws and blocked media, and on how peace prize-winning newspaper Novaya Gazeta is maneuvering to stay compliant.
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ON THE WAY HOME AFTER SIX YEARS IN IRAN CAPTURE: British-Iranian Woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will be released from house arrest in Tehran and on the way back to England. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested and convicted in 2016 of conspiring to seize power in Iran while he was visiting family in the country. He spent four years in prison before being transferred to house arrest. Iranian authorities say they have also released another Briton, Anoosheh Ashoori, who was convicted of espionage in 2017.
NEED TO EXPORT MORE GAS: The government is increasing production permits at the North Sea’s largest gas field Equinor, so that spring and summer can be used to replenish Europe’s gas reserves. Together with the resumption of the Melkøya plant for liquefied natural gas, this means that 2022 will probably be a record year for Norwegian gas exports, wrote Dagens Næringsliv. The continent’s gas reserves have historically been sluggish after Russia began pressuring gas again last year, which in turn resulted in dramatic energy prices.
AS COUNTRY WITHIN COUNTRY: “This demonstrates that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs acts as a ‘state within a state’ and that the ministry, through its transmissions, places political prestige above the need for prompt assistance.”. This is what the Progress Party’s foreign policy spokesman said Christian Tybring-Gjedde after yesterday’s Filter News disclosure that the Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) and the Minister of Health Ingvild Kjerkol (Manpower) has sent a letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt (Labour) where they go to great lengths to point to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) as the reason why Norway has not made a decision fast enough on emergency aid to Ukraine. Also deputy leader of the Liberal Party Sveinung Rotevatn criticized the government after the disclosure of the internal memo. “The crisis in Ukraine didn’t have time to wait for Norwegian ministers to bicker among themselves and ruffle their feet between ministries, it didn’t work. Now every hour counts », said Rotevatn. Read the whole case here.
Happy Wednesday! Greetings Filter editorial staff
