German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has ruled out any kind of truce at this time regarding the war in Ukraine, as it would mean that Russia would keep the territories it has occupied so far.
«Recommendations to make a truce now are frivolous,» he has said.
«A truce at this point would be signing what has already happened, injustice. A truce now would mean that Russia would keep the occupied territories and with it border violations and disregard for international law,» the German president has asserted in an interview for the Deutsche Welle broadcaster.
Steinmeier criticized the recent Russian attacks on critical infrastructure in Ukraine, a «brutal» war strategy, he said, as it puts the focus on civilian targets. «Ukrainians are threatened by hardship, darkness and cold,» he has expressed.
On the other hand, Steinmeier has highlighted Germany’s role in this war and pointed out that the protests initially expressed by the Ukrainian authorities about Berlin’s reluctance to meddle in the conflict are water under the bridge.
«The criticism of the German arms support that existed has subsided. There is a lot of gratitude today,» assured Steinmeier, who was one of the notable absentees at the summit of European leaders held in Kiev shortly after the outbreak of the war. «I made up for it with the visit in October,» he concluded.
