Not part of a “propaganda show”
Baerbock sees no chance of negotiations with Russia
7/13/2022 7:36 am
The war in Ukraine leaves no one cold, including Foreign Minister Baerbock. However, she does not see any chance of negotiations with Russia. She also makes clear what she thinks of the open letter demanding an immediate ceasefire.
After four and a half months of war in Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sees no possibility of negotiations with Russia. “What can you negotiate with someone who is not even willing to agree humanitarian corridors with the International Committee of the Red Cross for civilians to flee?” the Greens politician told Stern magazine. The Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country has been going on since the end of February.
Baerbock also dismissed calls for an immediate ceasefire and negotiations, as demanded in an open letter by a number of German celebrities. “As a Ukrainian, I would find the letter naive, disturbing, arrogant,” she said. “What right would a German foreign minister of all people have to decide for Ukraine which part of her country she should hand over, how many millions of her citizens have to submit to Russia’s rule?” She said clearly: “I don’t understand how you can make the world so easy for yourself as an adult.”
If the support to Ukraine were stopped, “the Bucha war crimes or the bombing of Sieverodonetsk would happen in more places.” Baerbock made it clear: “And I don’t see the slightest sign that Putin would leave the rest of Ukraine alone if they stopped fighting back now.”
Putin ‘sacrificing his own country’
According to Baerbock, he has had no direct contact with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov since the beginning of the war. She wishes she could say: “Come on, Sergei, let’s negotiate peace.” However, she doubts that Lavrov still has a mandate from the Russian leadership. “It is questionable what role the Russian foreign minister will play in this,” said the foreign minister, referring to President Vladimir Putin. She is convinced that he is “sacrificing his own country”.
Lavrov and Baerbock were both in Bali last week for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers from leading and emerging economies. Immediately after his speech, however, Lavrov left the courtroom without listening to Baerbock’s reply. There was also no handshake between the two at the meeting. When asked if she was “ghosting” Lavrov, meaning she was intentionally cutting off all contact, she said: “Nonsense, but we’re not naive – and I’m not doing my part for a Russian propaganda show. And that’s all I could have expected.”
As Foreign Minister, she is aware that the success of her work is not immediately apparent. Foreign policy is “quite different from all other policy areas,” said Baerbock. “You don’t make laws, you forge alliances, maybe conclude international treaties. That often takes longer than a legislature, but many treaties last four decades instead of four years. You should never be discouraged.” It is Germany’s current task to “proceed with courage, foresight and your own ideas”.