Ex-Nato general surprised by "Will": Ukraine can win the war - Putin's assessment "completely wrong"?

Created: 03/08/2022 05:14

Ex-Nato General Egon Ramms on Sunday evening at "Anne Will".

© Screenshot: ARD media library/fn

Neither the Western sanctions nor the resistance of the Ukrainian population are dissuading Putin from his war.

Anne Will asks: What's next? 

Berlin - "The world is different," says Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) on Sunday evening at Anne Will in the first *.

Before the Ukraine conflict* broke out, nobody thought that there would ever be “war in Europe” again.

"We were lied to by the Russian government," says Baerbock clearly.

“Mr. Putin wanted this war!”

“War against Ukraine – how far will Putin go?” is Will's theme.

War is a sad certainty.

But what happens next, which in the worst case could threaten other countries besides Ukraine, is still uncertain.

At least Will manages to unravel the different arguments of the camps.

However, Baerbock does not take part in the talk.

The Foreign Minister introduces herself in an interview at the beginning of the program.

Ukraine war at "Anne Will": Selenskyj expects further raids - Baerbock does not contradict

Will confronts Baerbock with the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj*, who predicted at a press conference that Putin would attack other European countries.

The president had his troops marched “to the Berlin Wall” symbolically in order to restore the old world order after the end of the Second World War, the time of the Cold War.

Baerbock does not completely reject this thesis.

The Green politician also shows understanding for the harsh criticism of Selenskyj, who was visibly disappointed by NATO's no to a no-fly zone over Ukraine *.

The words "hit her in the heart," says Baerbock.

She is aware that these are "the moments in foreign policy" when you can only "choose between plague and cholera".

"Anne Will" - these guests discussed with:

• Annalena Baerbock (The Greens)*

  - Foreign Minister

• Alexander Graf Lambsdorff (FDP) -

  Deputy parliamentary group leader

• Frans Timmermans -

  Vice-President and Commissioner for Climate Action in the European Commission (connected)

• Andriy Yaroslavowych Melnyk -

  Ambassador of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany

• Egon Ramms

  - General aD (since 2010 out of service) of the army of the Bundeswehr

A flight ban, Baerbock justifies the decision, would mean that one would have to intervene in the event of a violation - in the worst case by shooting down Russian planes.

In fact, the start of World War III.

"We can't take responsibility for that," said Baerbock.

The Foreign Minister once again clarified the current goal of the Western governments: "End the war in Ukraine!"

Ukraine war: Ambassador criticizes Will the West - "A paralyzed rabbit in front of the snake"

The Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk leaves no doubt that he believes the West's diplomatic attempts to be wrong.

He criticizes "fear", which he says has become "the main guide".

You are afraid of a "nuclear war" and think: "Do nothing so as not to risk it."

The same applies to the "energy freeze", an embargo on gas and oil - there is a fear that "social peace will be endangered".

But it cannot be that "this great nation", which is Germany, stands like a "paralyzed rabbit in front of this snake".

Melnyk is certain that this attitude will not stop Russia, but merely “delay it”.

The Dutch Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, confirms Putin's problematic psychology: "The man never steps backwards, he can only escalate," says Zimmermann, who met Vladimir Putin personally during his time as Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg.

FDP foreign politician Alexander Graf Lambsdorff nevertheless appealed not to deviate from the diplomatic course.

Even if Putin were to get the military upper hand in Ukraine, the FDP politician is certain that Putin would have "not the slightest chance of winning the peace" in Ukraine.

Given the broad resistance against Russia, the country would not be governable even with a puppet government.

Anne Will (ARD): German ex-General Ramms still sees a chance of victory for Ukraine

Egon Ramms, a retired four-star general, does not rule out that "the people and the armed forces" of Ukraine could still gain the upper hand in the war with Russia.

Putin had "completely misjudged both the "army" and the "Ukrainian civilian population".

But Ramms also leaves no doubt that the West underestimated Putin's military rearmament plans and that disarmament in recent years was a mistake.

He doesn't exclude himself as a former NATO commander who in part supported the disarmament plans. 

According to Ramms, no country in western Europe currently has sufficient arms depots.

He himself once commanded more than a thousand tanks, the number of which has now shrunk to 286 operational tanks - that roughly corresponds to the number that Russia has lost in its eleven-day campaign in Ukraine.

Anne-Will-Talk: Putin's oil and gas becomes a point of contention - the Ukraine embassy insists on a turnaround

In her interview slot at the beginning of the show, Baerbock also admits the lack of defensiveness in Western Europe.

Even if one decides to launch a counterattack, the scope for action is therefore limited.

Melnyk is all the more insistent on insisting on even stricter economic sanctions and stopping energy supplies from Russia, which would currently bring the country a billion a day.

In one year, the sum of several years of Russian military budgets comes together.

Lambsdorff refuses to turn off the money tap immediately, but agrees with Melnyk's position for diversity in the energy market, which must now be brought "into shape" with "every effort".

Timmermans lists which technologies should play a role: "Photovoltaics", "wind", "hydrogen" and "biomethane" should be "developed quickly".

Liquid gas is still needed to fill up the storage tanks, but also the switch to electric where possible.

Conclusion of the "Anne Will" talk

A hybrid situation: on one side of the continent it is a matter of life and death and the consideration of how a Russian president who may have gone mad can still be stopped on his campaign of destruction.

On the other side of the continent, meanwhile, people are considering how Putin's aggression can be used politically to advance the energy transition*.

Despite all the correctness of the switch to environmentally friendly energy production, this debate also has desperate features.