Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock says any concessions to Russia in the ongoing conflict would be “naive”
Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister. © Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images
The West should not settle for any peace agreement that would result in Ukraine losing territory to Russia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said. According to the diplomat, flaws in the strategy were demonstrated back in 2014, when Crimea was absorbed into Russia.
Speaking at the 2022 Berlin Foreign Policy Forum, Baerbock said that while open public discussions are a key aspect of a true democracy, those suggesting trading Ukraine’s territorial integrity for the prospect of immediate peace have been repeatedly mistaken.
“Such naive strategies already failed in 2014, we’ve seen that the annexation of Crimea and Donbass was only a prelude to what has been happening in Ukraine ever since the 24th of February,” she claimed.
The minister called into question Russian President Vladimir Putin’s willingness to negotiate, adding that the Kremlin seems to be doubling down on brute force instead. With that in mind, “for Europe it is not about security with Putin’s Russia, for Europe it is about security from Putin’s Russia,” she noted.
“The security of the Baltic states, the security of Eastern Europe is Germany’s security,” Baerbock said in an apparent bid to illustrate Berlin’s commitment to solidarity with other European nations. She also added that Germany is going to “support Ukraine with weapons for all it takes,” pledging economic and humanitarian aid as well.
Last Wednesday, Ukraine’s Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov confirmed the arrival of the first unit of Germany’s cutting-edge IRIS-T air defense systems in Ukraine. Three more are expected to be supplied to Kiev next year.
Meanwhile, Germany’s own military has yet to receive a single unit of the system. This prompted Bavaria’s governor, Markus Soeder, to criticize the decision, calling on the government in Berlin to prioritize the country’s own security.
Earlier in October, a report published by Business Insider showed that German forces have only enough ammunition for two days of warfare.
