Germany

BERLIN, May 17 (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Christian Lindner is open to the idea of seizing Russian state assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, he said in an interview with German business daily Handelsblatt and three other European newspapers.

"I am politically open to the idea of seizing foreign assets of the Russian Central Bank," Lindner said, adding that proposals to this effect were already being discussed among the Group of Seven economic powers and in the European Union.

BERLIN, May 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for a “credible” investigation into the death of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as he offered condolences to her family.

Blinken said he spoke with the brother of Shireen Abu Akleh, who was a US citizen, during his flight Saturday to Berlin for a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

“I had a chance to express deep condolences for her loss, our deep respect for the work that she did as a journalist for many years,” Blinken told reporters in Berlin.

BERLIN, May 15. /TASS/: Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba thinks that his task is to deliver as many weapons as possible to Ukraine and attain the utmost sanctions against Russia. He expressed this in an interview with Bild published on Saturday.

"My goal is to supply Ukraine with as many weapons as possible, to initiate as many sanctions as possible against Russia and help as many Ukrainians who were forced to flee abroad as possible," he said.

BERLIN, May 15. /TASS/: All NATO member states are committed to keep the anti-Russian sanctions in place for as long as is necessary, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference on Sunday after an informal meeting of NATO top diplomats in Berlin.

BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) - Croatia's foreign minister said on Sunday talks between Turkey with Finland and Sweden over its concerns with regard their membership to the NATO alliance were on the right track after all three met on Saturday.

"Discussions are on a good track and we hope we will have a good outcome today to show solidarity and speak with one voice," Grlic Radman told reporters at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Berlin.

BERLIN, May 14 (Reuters) - Norway on Saturday backed Finnish and Swedish plans to join NATO against criticism from Turkey.

"We don't know what Turkey really means but from (the) Norwegian perspective, we are 100% behind Finland and Sweden if they decide to apply for membership in NATO," Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeld said as she arrived for a meeting with her NATO counterparts in Berlin.

"This will also strengthen the Nordic cooperation because we chose differently after World War 2, so I think that this is a historic moment right now," she added.

BERLIN, May 15 (Reuters) - Russia's offensive in Ukraine is failing and its operation in the Donbass region has stalled, NATO's secretary general said on Sunday.

"Russia's war in Ukraine is not going as Moscow had planned. They failed to take Kyiv," Jens Stoltenberg told reporters by video link. "They are pulling back from Kharkiv and their major offensive in Donbass has stalled."

BERLIN (AP) — Finland declared Sunday that it wants to join NATO, as a senior official with the western military alliance expressed hope that — with Russia’s military advance appearing to falter — Ukraine can win the war.

President Sauli Niinisto and Prime Minister Sanna Marin made the announcement that Finland would seek membership of NATO during a joint news conference at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki. The previously neutral Nordic country shares a long border with Russia.

“This is a historic day. A new era begins,” Niinisto said.

WEISSENHAUS, Germany May 14 (Reuters) - Group of Seven foreign ministers vowed on Saturday to reinforce Russia's economic and political isolation, continue supplying weapons to Ukraine and tackle what Germany's foreign minister described as a "wheat war" being waged by Moscow.

After meeting at a 400-year-old castle estate in the Baltic Sea resort of Weissenhaus, senior diplomats from Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union also pledged to continue their military and defence assistance for "as long as necessary".

13 May 2022; MEMO: A Berlin court, on Friday, upheld a ban on all Palestinian "Nakba Day" demonstrations which were scheduled to take place in the German capital this weekend, the Berlin-based Tagesspiegel newspaper reported.

The administrative court outlawed five Palestinian demonstrations because what it said was a risk of inflammatory or anti-Semitic calls and violence, Anadolu News Agency reports.