Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) has no hope for a quick and peaceful end to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “We long for peace. Yes. But the honest, the bitter answer is: There probably won’t be a quick, good end, even if we wish otherwise,” he said in a video published on Friday on the X platform (formerly Twitter), with a view to the Easter holidays.
Habeck urges Germany to prepare for Putin: “Anything else would be naive”
In view of Russian aggression, he emphasized: “We have to prepare for the threat situation. Anything else would be naive.” Germany is therefore well advised to invest more in its own security. “We, Germany, the European Union, we have to protect ourselves completely, including from military attacks.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is the bloodiest that Europe has experienced since 1945. “Every day is a day of dying, and there is no end in sight. On the contrary, Putin’s Russia is completely switching to a war economy and massively increasing weapons production,” said Habeck, who is also Minister of Economics.
In recent weeks there have been arguments in Germany about the type and extent of support for Ukraine, “sometimes bitter and sometimes hurtful.” With his video for Easter he wanted to try to sort through the arguments and evaluate them from his perspective.
“I spoke out in favor of arms deliveries early on and I’m still advocating for them now.”
“I spoke out early on in favor of supplying arms to Ukraine, and I am now also advocating that we continue to support them with more and additional military material,” said Habeck. However, he has respect for a position that, for fundamental moral reasons or religious convictions, comes to a different conclusion than he does on the subject of arms deliveries to Ukraine. “I also understand only too well that people are afraid of an escalation of war. I too am worried.” The question is what attitude and what actions are necessary to counter this threat. The government must continually deal with this.
Habeck opposed “freezing the war”. “As much as I understand that there is talk of freezing the war given the high number of victims, this position ignores the fact that only Ukrainians can decide what price they are willing to pay and under what conditions they will reach a ceasefire or want to end the war,” he said. SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich (SPD) had discussed “freezing” the conflict – i.e. a ceasefire to enable a negotiated solution. He received a lot of criticism for this.
Habeck warns: “If Putin is successful in Ukraine, he will continue”
Putin wants to destroy the unification and unity of Europe, said Habeck. “If Putin is successful with his war in Ukraine, he will continue.” That is why it is important for security in Germany and peace in Europe that Ukraine successfully defends itself and that Germany helps it.