So far, the German government has struggled with a clear demand for a Ukrainian victory against Russia. Green Party leader Nouripour is clearer: when asked whether Ukraine should win, he says yes. However, one does not want to dictate to the country what it has to do.
Green Party leader Omid Nouripour has named Ukraine’s victory in the war against Russia as the goal. “Ukrainians must regain their sovereignty, their territorial integrity and their freedom,” he told the Funke media group’s newspapers. “We will not recognize an inch of occupied Ukrainian soil.”
When asked whether Ukraine should win the war against Russia, Nouripour answered “yes”. However, Nouripour added: “But we are not telling Ukraine what to do. If they want to retake these territories, then we support them. And if they want to negotiate, then we support them too.”
With regard to the war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and several ministers had repeatedly used the formulation that Russia must not win and Ukraine must not lose. This raised questions as to why they didn’t specifically call for a victory for Ukraine instead. On Wednesday evening on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock from the Green Party clearly stated that Ukraine had to win the war against Russia.
When asked why the Chancellor did not say that Ukraine should win, Nouripour said: “This debate about the words irritates me a bit. I don’t see it any differently than Olaf Scholz or Annalena Baerbock.” When asked if the supply of main battle tanks to Ukraine was a red line, he said: “We have to strike a balance between two goals: avoiding the delimitation of the war and helping Ukraine. Change the measures that are necessary for this almost weekly. I would be wary of red lines.”
