BERLIN: Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz said Sunday that Russia committed a “serious war crime” in its missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy, which killed at least 34 people.
“It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended,” he said in comments to broadcaster ARD.
“There are two waves of attacks, and the second arrived as emergency workers were taking care of the victims,” said Merz.
“That is the response, that is what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin does to those who talk with him of a ceasefire,” he added.
“Our willingness to discuss with him is interpreted not as a serious offer to make peace, but as weakness,” said Merz.
Two ballistic missiles hit the northeastern city on Sunday morning. Two children were among the dead, authorities said.
While Germany’s outgoing chancellor Otto Scholz has refused to supply Kyiv with Taurus missiles capable of striking inside Russia, Merz has said he is open to the idea.
“I have always said that I would only do it in agreement with European partners,” he told ARD.
“It must be coordinated and if it is coordinated, then Germany should participate,” he added.
Germany’s Merz says Russia committed ‘serious war crime’ in Ukraine strike
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Germany’s Merz says Russia committed ‘serious war crime’ in Ukraine strike
- “It was a perfidious act.. and it is a serious war crime, deliberate and intended,” he said in comments to broadcaster ARD
Cuba says a 5th person died after people on a Florida-flagged speedboat opened fire on soldiers
- Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops
- The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities
HAVANA: Cuba said a fifth person has died as a consequence of a fatal shootout last month involving a Florida-flagged speedboat that allegedly opened fire on soldiers in waters off the island nation’s north coast.
The island’s interior ministry said late Thursday in a statement that Roberto Álvarez Ávila died on March 4 as a result of his injuries. It added that the remaining injured detainees “continue to receive specialized medical care according to their health status.”
Authorities in Cuba said that on Feb. 26 Cuban soldiers confronted a speedboat carrying 10 people as the vessel approached the island and opened fire on the troops. They said the passengers were armed Cubans living in the US who were trying to infiltrate the island and “unleash terrorism”. Cuba said its soldiers killed four people and wounded six others.
“The statements made by the detainees themselves, together with a series of investigative procedures, reinforce the evidence against them,” the Cuban interior ministry said in its statement, adding that “new elements are being obtained that establish the involvement of other individuals based in the US”
Earlier this week, Cuba said it had filed terrorism charges against six suspects that were on the speedboat. The government unveiled items said to have been found on the boat, including a dozen high-powered weapons, more than 12,800 pieces of ammunition and 11 pistols.
Cuban authorities have provided few details about the shooting, but said the boat was roughly 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) northeast of Cayo Falcones, off the country’s north coast. They also provided the boat’s registration number, but The Associated Press was unable to readily verify the details because boat registrations are not public in the state of Florida.
The shooting threatened to increase tensions between US President Donald Trump and Cuban authorities. The island’s economy was until recently largely kept economically afloat by Venezuela’s oil, which is now in doubt after a US military operation deposed then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
