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Kay-Achim Schönbach: »It would be easy to give him the respect he wants – and probably deserves«
Photo: Bernd Wüstneck / picture alliance/dpa/dpa-Zentralbild
The conflict between NATO and Russia is coming to a head.
Senior insiders of the military alliance fear that Putin wants to attack Ukraine on multiple fronts.
However, the Vice Admiral and head of the German Navy, Kay-Achim Schönbach, sees the real threat in China and would rather see Russia as a partner than as an enemy.
He does not believe in an imminent attack on Ukraine.
The fact that Russia wants to incorporate parts of Ukraine is "nonsense," said Schönbach during a visit to India's capital, Delhi.
"What Putin really wants is respect."
Showing respect is a "small expense," and possibly even no expense, the military continues in a speech that has now been videoed out on the Internet.
"It would be easy to give him the respect he wants - and probably deserves."
Russia is an old and important country.
India and Germany need Russia, says Schönbach: "We need Russia against China."
If you had this great country on your side, it would keep China off your back, even if it wasn't a democracy.
Of course, one cannot ignore Russia's actions in Chechnya or Ukraine.
"Crimea is gone and it won't come back," says Schönbach, which is a fact.
"Dictators, Murderers, Criminals"
China appears as an enemy to many countries, although not necessarily to Germany.
The first step, however, is to accept what China is really doing: giving money to dictators, murderers and criminals.
Because of massive Russian troop movements with around 100,000 Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian border, the West fears an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow argues that the troop deployment is taking place on Russian territory and therefore threatens “no one”.
For weeks, the West has been threatening Moscow with massive consequences if it invades Ukraine.
muk/dpa
