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UKRAINE Germany considers increasing its economic aid to Ukraine, but still refuses to supply it with weapons, DPA quotes a governmental source in Berlin as saying. The announcement comes ahead of a visit by chancellor Olaf Scholz to Kyiv on Monday and to Moscow on Tuesday, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian standoff. Meanwhile, the US has started pulling out its OSCE staff from the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, controlled by pro-Russian separatists, Reuters reports. The US and many of its allies are urging their citizens to leave Ukraine, warning that a Russian invasion may be imminent. The Romanian foreign ministry has raised the alert level for Ukraine and advises Romanian citizens to avoid travelling to that country. Romanian nationals currently in Ukraine are urged to notify their presence to Romania's embassy or consular offices and to reconsider staying in that country. The foreign ministry also calls on Romanian citizens, including journalists, to avoid big crowds, to stay up to date with information from reliable sources and to adjust their plans to the security situation there.
NATO Meanwhile, US Stryker armoured vehicles have reached the Mihail Kogălniceanu military base in southern Romania, where 1,000 US troops will also be relocated from Germany to strengthen NATO's eastern flank. With the arrival of Task Force Cougar, the number of American troops in Romania reaches nearly 2,000. France has also voiced willingness to deploy troops to Romania. A NATO member since 2004, Romania was already hosting 900 American, 250 Polish and 140 Italian troops. A unit of the US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), comprising around 150 troops and 8 F-16 Fighting Falcons, are conducting joint training missions with Romanian troops and aircraft for 2 weeks. A senior Pentagon official also announced the US decided to send an additional 3,000 troops to Poland as well.
COVID-19 The number of new COVID-19 cases continues to drop in Romania, with nearly 12,000 new cases reported on Sunday and 81 related deaths. Over 1,140 patients are currently in intensive care. The largest number of infections since the start of the pandemic, 40,018, was reported on February 1. The health minister Alexandru Rafila said the number of new reported cases remains high, although it is falling quickly, and once again pleaded for vaccination, especially among vulnerable categories. As for lifting the restrictions, the health minister did not specify a deadline, but stressed that relaxation will be as quick as the situation allows it. In turn, the head of the vaccination programme Valeriu Gheorghiţă said that in the future vaccination will be seasonal, just like for the flu, and the vaccine will be adjusted to the variant circulating at a particular time. He also said the vaccination rate in Romania stands at 50.5% of the adult population.
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