The statements from German politics were characterized by concern that a one-sided Russian-American agreement at the expense of Ukraine could weaken the security of Europe in the long run. “With a false peace that would only give Russia a breath for new wars, nobody would be helped: not Ukraine, not Europe and not the USA,” said Baerbock. She campaigned “for a self-confident acting compared to the US administration”.
Baerbock vividly warned against leaving Europe outside at the end of the war. Europe’s role “only talking small, only the Russian agenda plays in the hands,” said the minister. “There can only be permanent peace in Europe with Europe.”
Defense Minister Pistorius criticized that the US government has already made Russia too many concessions and thus weakened its negotiating position. “The Americans made a mistake to take the NATO membership of Ukraine off the table,” said Pistorius on Deutschlandfunk. US expressions for Ukrainian regional detections would also weaken the western negotiating position from the outset. The USA’s approach seems “eruptive and erratic”.
US President Trump gave Ukraine to a complicity on the ongoing Russian war of attack. Shortly before, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian colleague Sergei Lawrow in Saudi Arabia had come together for talks about Ukraine. The diplomatic extension ensures fears that Ukraine and Europe as a whole could be marginalized in the negotiations on the future peace regulations.
Union Chancellor Merz was horrified by Trump’s statements. “Basically, this is a classic perpetrator-victim reversal, that is the Russian narrative,” said Merz of the ARD. “And I am honestly shocked by the fact that Donald Trump has obviously made himself its own.” In Germany and Europe, “really a paradigm shift in the entire foreign and security policy” is coming to.
The federal government meanwhile advised not to put every trump’s statement on the gold scales. “We are dealing with a communicatively very active US president,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. He himself had “decided not to constantly evaluate every statement by the US president here”. Such restraint is also advisable, because otherwise there is “always a form of uncertainty if we would do everything behind it”.
Foreign Minister Baerbock advised: “We are not allowed to be killed by the recent conversations and have to keep cooling my head – also in view of the variety of voices that reach us through the Atlantic.”
The federal government confirmed the unchanged support of Germany and Europe for Ukraine. Minister Pistorius also did not want to rule out that Germany would take part in a later peacekeeping in Ukraine: “Of course, Germany as the largest NATO partner in Europe will participate in any sensible and secure peace mission.” First, however, the framework conditions would have to be clarified.
The Ukrainian side and the EU should “of course” be involved in the talks about peace regulation, government spokesman Hebestreit said: “After all, it is also about European peace architecture.” The federal government expects a format to develop “in the next few days and weeks” in which all sides could present their interests. So far, the US government has only spoken in a very vague form about the integration of Europe.
