Germany

MUNICH (AP) — Moscow would have its access to financial markets and high-tech goods limited under Western sanctions being prepared in case Russia attacks Ukraine, one of the European Union’s top officials said Saturday.

The comments from Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU’s executive commission, came as tensions over Russia’s intentions toward Ukraine intensified. U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was convinced” Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to invade the neighboring country.

MUNICH (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris was expected to use a highly anticipated speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday to warn Russia that it will face huge financial costs if it further invades Ukraine, while underscoring that an invasion will only draw European allies closer to the United States.

Her address at the annual conference comes one day after President Joe Biden said he’s “convinced” that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made the decision to invade.

BERLIN (AP) — Europe needs a bolder space policy, French President Emmanuel Macron declared Wednesday, warning that Europe’s sovereignty is at stake if it falls behind rival powers in a key field for technology, science and military competitiveness.

Speaking at a meeting in Toulouse, France, Macron said recent events had shown how crucial it is to be able to monitor troop movements from orbit — a reference to satellite images showing Russia’s mass military deployment near Ukraine that raise fears of an imminent invasion.

BERLIN, Feb 15 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to Moscow on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir Putin in a high stakes mission to avert war, with Russia's largest trading partner in Europe warning of far-reaching sanctions if it attacks Ukraine.

Scholz's one-day trip, after visiting Kyiv on Monday, is part of frantic Western diplomacy to try to stop a potential attack as more than 100,000 Russian troops mass on Ukraine's borders.

BERLIN (AP) — Diplomatic efforts to head off what U.S. officials have warned could be an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine entered a new round on Monday. Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin to continue talks and Germany’s chancellor met the Ukrainian president.

Nonetheless the U.S. announced it is closing its embassy in Ukraine and moving all remaining staffers there to a city near the Polish border.

BERLIN (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Germany’s chancellor on Tuesday after the Kremlin signaled that it was still possible for diplomacy to head off what Western officials have said could be an imminent invasion of Ukraine.

In another possible sign that the Kremlin would like to lower the temperature, Russia announced that some units participating in military exercises would begin returning to their bases.

But much remains unclear about Russia’s intentions and how the crisis over Ukraine will play out.

BERLIN, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Benedikt Richter, a 40-year-old teacher in the southwest German city of Kaiserslautern, long held out against getting vaccinated against COVID-19. He felt uneasy about the novelty of the mRNA technology used in two of the most commonly administered shots.

It did not help that his sister-in-law was hospitalised with heart muscle inflammation a day after receiving her second shot, which doctors officially linked to her vaccine, Richter said. Regulators have acknowledged such conditions as a rare and mostly mild side-effect.

BERLIN (AP) — A special parliamentary assembly meets Sunday to elect Germany’s president for the next five years. Incumbent Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has been endorsed by most mainstream political parties, is seeking a second term as the largely ceremonial head of state.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is flying to Ukraine and Russia this week in an effort to help defuse escalating tensions as Western intelligence officials warn that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is increasingly imminent and Germany has called on its citizens to leave Ukraine as quickly as possible.

Ahead of his first visits as chancellor to Kyiv on Monday and Moscow on Tuesday for meetings with the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, Scholz has renewed his warning to Russia, as well as his advocacy of continuing diplomacy in multiple formats.

FRANKFURT, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The crisis between Russia and Ukraine is escalating, but Germany is making all efforts to find a diplomatic solution, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday.

"We must be prepared for all scenarios," Baerbock said during a news conference in Cairo.

She was speaking as Berlin urged citizens to leave Ukraine and ahead of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to Ukraine and Russia for talks next week.