“Russia bears responsibility for the upcoming war.” These are the words of the German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, re-elected today for a second term. In his speech following the announcement of the voting results, Steinmeier noted that “the absence of war on our continent had become a habit for us”. For Steinmeier, peace is not an obvious thing, it must be continually reworked in dialogue, but if necessary also with clarity, with deterrence. “I can only warn President Putin: do not underestimate the strength of democracy,” he said.
The German government considers the situation relating to the crisis between Ukraine and Russia “extremely dangerous”. The “very worrying picture” will significantly affect Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s talks with Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Vladimir Putin on Monday in Kiev and Tuesday in Moscow, government sources quoted by Focus.de said. The objective of the two visits is to maintain the thread of talks with Russia on de-escalation. It has been explained that it is a question of holding a dialogue on the requests of both sides. “Not only are we ready to hold such talks, but we are also actively asking for them.”
The words of the Ukrainian ambassador Andrei Melnyk also came from Berlin, who spoke of “German hypocrisy” referring to the German refusal to supply defensive weapons to Ukraine. “No weapons for Ukraine’s self-defense against Russian military invasion but 366 million euros of German exports of dual-use goods to Russia in 2020 alone which may be destined to increase arms production. Regardless of EU sanctions. “he wrote on Twitter.
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