Ukraine conflict: Lambrecht calls for “consequences” for Putin

The new Defense Minister Lambrecht is going on her first trip abroad. In Lithuania it will meet 570 German NATO forces. It should also be about Russia: According to Lambrecht, President Putin should feel “personal consequences”.

Before her trip to Lithuania, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke out in favor of tougher sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine conflict. “Right now we have to target Putin and those around him,” said Lambrecht of “Bild am Sonntag”. Those “responsible for the aggression” would have to feel “personal consequences”, “for example, that they can no longer go shopping on the Champs Élysées in Paris,” said the SPD politician.

Given a massive Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine, there are fears that Moscow could attack the neighboring country. The G7 and the EU threaten Russia with “massive consequences” in the event of an attack.

Lithuania trip in the shadow of the Ukraine conflict

The Ukraine conflict will probably also be an issue on Lambrecht’s first trip abroad as Defense Minister. Because host Lithuania, just like the other Baltic countries and Poland, feels threatened by Russia.

At the beginning of 2017, the defense alliance sent four – each rotating – combat units to the eastern flank to provide security and deterrence. A response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The Bundeswehr, which leads the association in Lithuania, is an important pillar of this so-called “enhanced forward presence”.

Around 570 German soldiers are currently stationed there. For the new minister, who has hardly commented on defense issues in recent years, the visit should also be an opportunity to get to know the troops better.

The new Defense Minister Lambrecht was previously not considered an expert on Bundeswehr issues.

Image: dpa

NATO soldiers in Ukraine?

Ultimately, the question of how to deal properly with Russia hovers over everything. Within NATO there are plans to further strengthen the eastern flank of the alliance, “Spiegel” reported – by building contingents of up to 1,500 soldiers in Romania and Bulgaria. Several NATO diplomats said that the proposal would be discussed at the next meeting of NATO defense ministers and, if an agreement was reached, it could be decided in Madrid at the end of June.

Germany and the SPD, which is in part considered to be pro-Russia, will now have to position themselves on this scenario. Lambrecht was cautious about the prospects of sending NATO soldiers to Ukraine itself. “We have to exhaust all options of diplomacy and economic sanctions,” she told “Bild am Sonntag”. “And all further steps must be closely coordinated in the alliance.”

Moscow, however, demands from NATO that the alliance does not move any further troops to Eastern Europe and that Ukraine, for example, be excluded from membership. The threat created by Russia could serve the purpose of enforcing these “security guarantees”.