As of: 01/22/2022 7:27 p.m
The controversial, “unacceptable” statements by the German naval chief and the German no to arms deliveries have triggered discontent in Ukraine. The Foreign Ministry therefore called in the German Ambassador Feldhusen.
The Ukrainian government has summoned the German ambassador to Kiev because of controversial statements by the German navy chief. During the conversation with Ambassador Anka Feldhusen, it was made clear that the Navy chief’s comments were unacceptable, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
At an event in India, the marine inspector Kay-Achim Schönbach said in a video published on the Internet: “The Crimean peninsula is gone, it will not come back.” He described the invasion of the Ukraine by Russian troops feared by western states as “nonsense”. What Russian President Vladimir Putin really wants is “respect on an equal footing,” said the vice admiral. “It’s easy to give him the respect he wants – and probably deserves.” Schönbach himself later tried to limit the damage and described his statements on Twitter as a “clear mistake”.
In a letter from the ministry, Ukraine now emphasized the “unacceptability” of the statements. Among other things, it is about the statement “that Crimea will never return to the stock of Ukraine and that our state will not meet the membership criteria for NATO,” it said.
Dispute over arms deliveries
In 2014, Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea on the Black Sea. In view of the current massive Russian troop deployment on the Ukrainian border, the government in Kiev has long been appealing to the federal government to supply it with so-called defensive weapons and military equipment.
The federal government has so far stuck to its clear no. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has now expressed its “deep disappointment” that Germany does not want to supply defense weapons.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba had also criticized Germany’s position with regard to his country’s conflict with Russia on Twitter. “Germany’s current statements are disappointing,” he wrote. This contradicts the aid provided since 2014, for which Kiev is grateful. “Now more than ever, the unity of the West towards Russia is important.” In order to rein in Russia, “considerable efforts together” are necessary, according to Kuleba. The German partners must stop “undermining this unity with statements and actions”.