German Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, was in Kiev for talks with the Ukrainian Government on Tuesday, and vowed to keep up support ahead of possible ceasefire negotiations between Russia and Ukrain.
Upon arrival, Pistorius said that he had wanted to discuss further aid and get an idea of the military situation.
His trip came less than a week before Donald Trump returns to the White House, casting doubt about future U.S. military assistance for Ukraine as the full-blown Russian invasion nears its fourth year.
Pistorius said that he wanted to “send a clear signal once again, one week before President Trump takes office, that we in Europe and our NATO partners stand by Ukraine.
“This is especially now in this particularly tense situation.
“It is a signal that Germany, as the largest NATO country in Europe, is standing by Ukraine,’’ Pistorius told dpa in Kiev.”
Pistorius had discussed European aid to Ukraine with his counterparts from Poland, France, Italy and Britain in Warsaw on Monday.
Continued close cooperation between Ukraine, the U.S. and European allies is necessary to successfully defend against the ongoing Russian invasion, Pistorius said.
Support from allies would give Kiev a real chance of “reaching reasonable negotiations at some point during the year.”
Ukraine’s armed forces were fighting with enormous courage. And, thank God, the materials supplied were not stopping either, he added.
Ahead of Trump’s inauguration in the U.S. on Jan. 20, it is unclear how U.S. support for Ukraine would continue.
Trump had repeatedly held out the prospect of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine quickly.
But Ukraine’s European allies were not fully aware of Trump’s proposals at least as far as is publicly known.
“The danger of Ukraine being defeated is not significantly greater than it was a year ago.
“The decisive difference is that Putin is of course trying to make up as much ground as possible before Jan. 20 in the possible expectation of ceasefire negotiations being forced upon him,’’ Pistorius said.
There are fears in Ukraine that Trump could drastically reduce U.S. aid, leaving Kiev in a very difficult position to continue the fight.
Pistorius also stressed that the looming German elections in six weeks’ time would not change the fact that a large European country was fighting for its survival, for its freedom.
On Monday in Warsaw, Pistorius said that Germany was eager to help spearhead efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s domestic arms industry together with the four major European partners.
“If the money is there, if the arms production capacity is there, then Ukraine itself will be the fastest to supply its own troops with material and weapons,’’ Pistorius said while in the Polish capital. (dpa/NAN)
