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Following criticism from Ukrainian and Polish officials for his benevolent and pro-Russian stance, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier acknowledged that his assessments were wrong.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has admitted for the first time that he has made mistakes in his policy towards Russia. “My insistence on Nord Stream 2 was a clear mistake. “We remained loyal to the bridges, which Russia no longer trusted, which our partners had warned us about,” Steinmeier told a news conference in Berlin.
It is also sad that “we failed to create a common European home, which includes Russia. “We failed in our approach to including Russia in a common security architecture.”
Steinmeier and Putin, December 2007, Steinmeier was then Foreign Minister
The remarks by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier came amid criticism recently voiced in interviews with German media by Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk and Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski. They criticized him for not taking a stand and not commenting on his misjudgments, especially during his time as foreign minister.
Criticism from Ukraine
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper that Steinmeier had not been adamant in his stance on renouncing policy toward Russia. He said Steinmeier had built a network of contacts with Russia for decades, adding that “for Steinmeier, the relationship with Russia was and remains something fundamental – even sacred.”
Melnyk also said that people associated with Steinmeier such as Jens Plötner, foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Secretary of State at the State Department Andreas Michaelis, as well as many important ambassadors, also follow Steinmeier’s position on proximity to Russia.
Concert “For Freedom and Peace” with the participation of Russian artists
The Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin also refused to attend a peace concert with Russian artists hosted at Steinmeier’s presidential residence.
Calls for more US troops in Europe
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski also criticized Germany’s foreign policy in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, saying that Poland “is not satisfied with Germany’s role in Europe.” In the interview Kaczynski also called for a 50% increase in US troops in Europe to fight new security fires on the continent.
Putin’s responsibility for the war lies with him
During the press conference German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that he had thought that Putin would not go so far as to accept the complete economic, political and moral destruction of his country for his imperial madness. “At this point I was wrong, like the others.” Said Steinmeier.
President Steinmeier meets with refugees from Ukraine
The German president said that the responsibility for the war lies with the head of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin. “We must not take this responsibility upon ourselves. “But this does not mean that we should not reconsider some things where we made mistakes,” said Steinmeier, adding that with a Russia under Putin there will be no “return to the pre-war status quo.”
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