The German Defense Minister said on Saturday he was open to sending German soldiers to Ukraine if a demilitarized zone was established there to guarantee respect for a hypothetical ceasefire with Russia.
In an interview with the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, Boris Pistorius also positioned himself for a defense budget “rather” at 3% of GDP, while Donald Trump demanded 5% for NATO members.
“We are NATO’s largest partner in Europe. It is obvious that we will play a role and that we will have to take responsibility for it,” declared Boris Pistorius, when asked about the possible sending of German troops to participate in securing a buffer zone between the two belligerents.
But “the question will be discussed when the time comes,” also said the Social Democratic minister, who hopes to retain his functions after the early legislative elections of February 23.
US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, promised during his election campaign to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in less than 24 hours. He has since given himself more time, but discussions could nevertheless open quickly, notably thanks to a meeting between Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But Ukraine is not today in the necessary position of strength before the opening of possible peace negotiations with Russia, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned on Monday.
-If “Russia occupies around 18 or 19% of Ukrainian territory”, concedes Boris Pistorius, it has “not obtained more” in almost three years of war, despite “high losses in its own army”, underlines- he.
At a recent meeting of Ukraine’s supporting countries, the United States said that Moscow was losing nearly 1,500 men per day in November.
Asked about the effort requested from Berlin within the framework of NATO, Boris Pistorius estimated that “we should, when in doubt, rather talk about 3% rather than 2%”, the current share of the budget of the defense in GDP.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a social democrat like Boris Pistorius, had already rejected the new American president’s proposal, which would involve, according to him, devoting 200 billion euros annually to defense spending, compared to the federal budget of around 490 billion planned for 2025.
