Kremlin chief “senses weakness”
Heusgen: “Putin thinks we are wimps”
February 11, 2024, 5:47 p.m
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The head of the Munich Security Conference, Heusgen, calls for greater support for Ukraine. “Putin only understands a policy of strength,” says the former Merkel advisor. There would only be a chance for negotiations if the Kremlin leader realized that he could not win the war.
According to the head of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, the West must support Ukraine much more resolutely. “Vladimir Putin thinks we are wimps and he believes that he has the upper hand,” said Chancellor Angela Merkel’s long-time foreign policy advisor to “Wirtschaftswoche”. When asked whether the Russian president actually had the upper hand, Heusgen answered in the negative. That’s why it’s so important to show him how wrong he is. “Putin senses weakness. That’s why we have to show strength all the more.”
There will only be a real chance for negotiations when Putin realizes that he will not win the war against Ukraine. Robust security guarantees are also needed for Ukraine – “preferably in the form of NATO membership.” Because the past has shown that Putin does not stick to agreements. “Otherwise there is a great risk that Putin will attack again.”
Heusgen rejects the accusation that Putin was underestimated by Germany for a long time. “We didn’t fall for Putin, he changed his attitude over time.” Putin said after NATO’s last eastward expansion in 2004 that he did not see Russia’s security threatened by it. “In 2007 he gave a very harsh, brutal speech at the security conference in Munich and claimed exactly the opposite,” said Heusgen. “At the same time, his poll numbers continued to decline, and he responded with increasingly aggressive actions.” He received high poll ratings for the annexation of Crimea, and he is now continuing to do so more and more brutally.
“If Putin is successful in Ukraine, he will continue to pursue his goal: the restoration of the Russian empire – and this includes some countries that are now members of NATO,” warns Heusgen. “Putin only understands the politics of strength.”