Kiev to Musk: War in Ukraine disappeared from Twitter trends

KIEV-Mikhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president, tweeted an emblematic message: 'War in Ukraine has disappeared from Twitter trends. A radical reduction in tweets mentioning coverage of Russian aggression. Users are not allowed to register or access an account with a Ukrainian phone number." The Journal reported this.

The senior official then kicked it up a notch, controversially calling out none other than Musk: “Elon Musk, I wonder if we will ever see the Twitter Files on fall/winter 2022?” Ukrainian media pointed out that Twitter had reportedly stopped accepting subscribers from Ukrainian mobile operators, as it was no longer possible to indicate the number “+380” when creating an account. The social would then shut down the ability to verify an account from Ukraine and restrict the creation of new ones. The problem, Odessa Journal wrote, was found for both the browser version of Twitter and the mobile application.

The U.S. has no problem with the delivery of German Leopard-2 main battle tanks or German Patriot anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine. “Our position is the same in both cases: it is Germany’s decision what Germany does,” U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman told reporters during her visit to Germany in Berlin. She said the German government has done a great job so far in providing military assistance to Ukraine, showing leadership and making very tough decisions. She said she assumed that Germany would continue to do everything possible and appropriate for Germany.

Ukraine has been demanding that the German government deliver Leopard 2 battle tanks for months. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has repeatedly stressed that there will be no German unilateral action in supporting Ukraine with Western-designed battle tanks. This position was reiterated by deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann as recently as Friday. The principle of the German government is “that we do not want to go it alone and will not do so, and that we will coordinate very closely”.

This was prompted by a report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, according to which U.S. President Joe Biden’s security adviser Jake Sullivan is said to have signaled to Scholz’s foreign policy adviser Jens Plötner as early as October that the United States had no objections to the delivery of Leopard 2s. Hoffmann said in response, “There was never any urging from the U.S. side or, for that matter, any request to supply Leopard 2 main battle tanks.”