Chancellor Olaf Soltz rejected it again possibility of peace in Ukraine without departure Russian troopsat the same time, he estimated that the war would last a long time and gave an idea from his telephone conversations with the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeierfor his part, called for the equipping of the German armed forces with an eye also to the security of his entire region NATO.

“Investing in our security does not only mean an increase in the (defense) budget, but above all, it means putting more effort into the security of the NATO region as a whole (…) Being on the ground, you protect yourself from direct participation in the war,” said Mr. Steinmeier during the visit of his Czech colleague Peter Pavel.

“With its attack on Ukraine, Russia has destroyed the peace order in Europe,” added the German President, while Mr. Pavel, a former NATO general, said that “Germany can demonstrate its leadership qualities in many areas – in European defense, and also in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine”.

Soltz, speaking at the event “Rhine post”, again rejected the possibility of peace in Ukraine without the withdrawal of Russian troops. “We cannot end with a peace dictated by Russia,” he stressed and expressed his assessment that the war would not end soon.

“We must be prepared for the fact that this will take a long time,” he said, stressing that “the Russian president should not win the war.

“Ukraine must be able to defend its integrity and independence,” he added.

Referring to telephone conversations he had with Vladimir Putin in recent months, the Chancellor explained that they sometimes lasted up to an hour and a halfand sometimes the Russian president doesn’t use an interpreter because he also speaks German “when it’s convenient.”

Olaf Soltz explained that his conversations with Bl. Putin is always in touch with Germany’s allies and makes it clear when a connection is inevitable.

“This is not the same as sending an SMS and asking: see you?” The chancellor said characteristically and clarified that, despite all the disagreements, discussions always take place in an atmosphere of courtesy.

Analyzing the situation in connection with the war in Ukraine, the head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Huisgen, told private television channel n-tv earlier today that the state of the Russian military was “very bad” and noted that the Russians “failed to push the front further into Ukraine and take a position – not necessarily of strategic importance, then from several months of fighting in Bakhmut” .

In addition, Cr. Heusgen, the Russian armed forces face a serious problem of supply of ammunition, while too often, according to him, “the regular Russian army and Prigozhin’s mercenaries, Wagner units, are fighting against each other.”

A veteran German diplomat, speaking of the visit of the Chinese President, Xi Jinpingin Moscow noted that the two leaders are significantly dependent on each other, but relations between the two countries have now changed to the opposite:

“Putin is now nothing more than Xi’s waiter, and Russia is a Chinese discount gas station,” he said characteristically.

RES-EMI