World Leaders Shun Putin Over Ukraine
- As hopes of quick victory evaporate
Russian President Vladimir Putin continued to face growing international isolation and the prospect of pariah status on Saturday night as long-term allies dramatically turned against him following the invasion of Ukraine.
In what seems a major boost to Ukraine, western nations also planned further decisive military and financial action against Moscow as Russian troops faced fierce resistance with Germany abandoning its postwar military stance to supply arms to Ukraine
As his hopes of a quick victory evaporated in the face of fierce resistance by Ukrainian soldiers and armies of citizen volunteers, Putin was deserted by his key ally, China, and had his ultimatum demanding Kyiv’s surrender defiantly brushed aside by his Ukrainian counterpart, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
In perhaps the most striking development, Germany announced on Saturday night that it would supply Ukrainian troops with 1,000 anti-tank weapons as well as 500 Stinger missiles from its own military reserves.
“The Russian assault on Ukraine marks a turning point,” Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said, signalling a major shift in his country’s postwar military stance.
“It threatens our entire postwar order. In this situation, it is our duty to support Ukraine to the best of our ability in its defence against the invasive army of Vladimir Putin. Germany stands closely on the side of Ukraine.”

Significantly, the German government is also bowing to intense pressure from Britain, the US and Canada to ban Russia from the crucial Swift banking payments system after repeated appeals from Kyiv for the west to do so.
Sources in Berlin said German ministers’ views were shifting on the issue and they were actively discussing measures that “would hit the right people”, having previously resisted, partly because of fears that a ban would affect the flow of funds to aid agencies in Russia.
In further blows to Putin, Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orbán, long seen as friendly towards Moscow, abandoned his support, saying he would back all EU sanctions against Russia, while Turkey was reported to be considering blocking the passage of Russian naval vessels into the Black Sea.
As a global diplomatic outcry intensified, Russia’s defence ministry ominously announced it was ordering “all units to advance in all sectors” as it accused Ukraine of refusing to negotiate.
And in a desperate attempt to restore a positive narrative in the information war, the Kremlin banned street protests and restricted access to social media such as Facebook. A growing list of Russian celebrities and influencers announced they backed global efforts to stop the war.
Having held off Russian forces for two nights, morale in Kyiv remained high among Ukrainians of all ages and from all walks of life, as many queued to take up arms. Many also gleefully shared videos of unarmed civilians rushing into the road to stop advancing convoys and fearlessly berating Russian soldiers about why they had come to Ukraine. Around the country, Russian forces were not confirmed as having control of a single major city, while Zelenskiy remained in Kyiv and told Americans who offered to evacuate him: “The fight is here. I need ammunition, not a ride.”
Adding to the sense of crisis enveloping the Kremlin, the US said it would send a further $350m (£260m) of military assistance to Ukraine, taking its total for the past 12 months to more than $1bn; even as NATO moved more troops and weaponry to eastern member states bordering Russia and Belarus.
Similarly, there is a sporting boycott mushroomed, with Russia facing a ban from motor racing and Poland refusing to play a World Cup football game while YouTube barred the Russian state-owned media outlet RT and other Russian channels from receiving money for advertisements that run with their videos. – With The Guardian report