After six months of war of aggression in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Baerbock no longer believes in a peaceful solution with Russia. The Kremlin has already proven that several times, she says in an interview. Therefore, Ukraine can only be supported in one way.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees no point in possible talks with the Russian government about ending the war in Ukraine given the current situation. Moscow is not even willing to “really negotiate extensively about humanitarian corridors,” said Baerbock in an interview with ZDF, which was conducted on the occasion of the exactly six-month duration of the Russian war of aggression.
Baerbock emphasized that by the time the Russian invasion began on February 24, the western side had “done everything” to prevent this war. But Russian President Vladimir Putin did everything to “destroy these very peace talks, now he’s been destroying an innocent country for the past six months.” At the moment there is nothing more to do than continue to “support Ukraine with arms deliveries”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz had announced additional German arms deliveries to Ukraine worth more than 500 million euros on Tuesday. Among other things, three additional Iris-T air defense systems, a dozen armored recovery vehicles and 20 rocket launchers mounted on pick-up vehicles are to be delivered.
Baerbock admitted in the ZDF interview that “a lot of china had been smashed” in relation to the Ukraine conflict in the relationship between Germany and Eastern European partner countries. However, the damage had not only occurred in the past few months, but also in the years before. By holding on to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for Russian gas for a long time, “we didn’t listen to the concerns of our Baltic and Eastern European friends,” said the Foreign Minister. Nord Stream 2 was then not commissioned as planned because of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Baerbock also cited the sluggish start of arms deliveries to Ukraine as a reason for Germany’s loss of confidence in its relationship with the Eastern European and Baltic states. Overall, the delivery of heavy weapons from Germany was “hesitant,” she said. Fast, additional deliveries to Ukraine are now needed in the fall. It is also to be expected that the war will continue next year.