Annalena Baerbock, the head of the German Federal Foreign Office, stated that she did not support lifting the veto on purchasing weapons by Ukraine through the NATO agency for defense against Russian aggression. According to her, the permission to purchase defense weapons would provoke an unnecessary escalation of the situation.
"Both the G7 states and the European Union have made it very clear that further military escalation at the Ukrainian border and, above all, a breach of international law and the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty would have massive political and economic consequences for Russia. If we set out all our options for action, then we have a long list. However, our priority now is to prevent further escalation," the Minister explained in an interview with the outlet DPA.
When asked about the weapon transfers to Ukraine, Baerbock did not give a clear answer. She noted that "further military escalation wouldn’t bring Ukraine greater security."
The German Foreign Minister stressed that the situation should be resolved through diplomacy, including "in the Normandy format, at the NATO-Russia Council and within the framework of the OSCE."
Context. In November, in the time of Angela Merkel, Germany vetoed Ukraine's purchase of lethal weapons through the NATO procurement agency. Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov stated that, taking this into account, our country intends to purchase the necessary weapons through the bilateral agreements with partners, including the United States, Lithuania, France, etc.
Recall: on December 30, US President Joe Biden threatened his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin with a "decisive response" to a new invasion of Ukraine. The head of the Russian Federation stressed that in this case, the Russian side will break off relations with the United States.
Earlier this month, President of the United States of America Joe Biden signed a defense budget for 2022 providing for an increase in military assistance to Ukraine.
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