Gabriel: Russia must know price for war in Europe
Created: 01/18/2022, 02:01 am
The former SPD chairman and former Federal Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel has urged in the Ukraine conflict to show strength in talks with Russia.
(Archive image) © Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
The meeting between Foreign Minister Annalena Bearbock and her counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow is eagerly awaited.
Things are already simmering in advance: Former Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel finds clear words.
Berlin - Former SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel has warned in the Ukraine conflict to show strength in talks with Russia.
The former foreign minister told the Tagesspiegel: "You only get your own strength in negotiations if you seriously counter the Russian threat of a military invasion of Ukraine." Russia must "know the price of a war in Europe."
"Of course, Nord Stream 2 cannot come if Russia attacks Ukraine." Russia would thus destroy the prerequisites for Germany's approval of the pipeline project.
“Because it has always been clear in the negotiations with Russia that the integrity and even the use of the pipeline through Ukraine by Russia will not be questioned.
In this respect, it was never a purely economic project, but always linked to political conditions that the Russian President has always accepted.”
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Kiev's mayor Klitschko expects German help
Ukraine crisis: blinking becomes clear during Baerbock's visit to Nord Stream 2 - "hard to imagine"
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) sees the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline as a private-sector project and has described the approval process as purely apolitical.
Gabriel made the statement immediately before a visit by Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Moscow.
Her meeting with her counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday is eagerly awaited.
dpa
