Photo: Virginia Mayo/AP/dpa
At the Cafe Kyiv Ukrainian Forum in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Johann Vadeful expressed his principled readiness for negotiations with Moscow to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine. But he strongly emphasizes one thing: this will not happen at the expense of "concessions." The forum is organized by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Vadeful said that Ukraine should speak first, but Germany is also ready to participate if the shelling stops and preparations for serious negotiations begin. At the same time, he openly stated that he has no plans to "go to Moscow and make further concessions there."
He also noted that Germany will not "beg and run" after Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed hope that at least one of the smart proposals will be accepted. Germany responded in the same way to calls from the Social Democratic Party of Germany to "more actively propose a ceasefire with Putin": there are enough communication channels, but if Moscow does not want to talk, the channel itself will not yield results.
German Chancellor Friedrich Mers also spoke at the forum. Recalling the 19th-century French writer Astolphe de Quustin, he cited the idea that "the highest civilization" and "the deepest barbarism" coexist in Russia. Through this, he once again emphasized how strategic the issue of aid to Ukraine is for Europe.
In his speech, Mers spoke about the consequences of the four-year war, casualties, as well as how Ukrainians are forced to live in houses without light and heating after a hail of bullets.
In short, the signal from Berlin is this: negotiations are possible, but the terms are not "accepting everything for peace." According to the German position, for peace to be real, a ceasefire must first occur, and Moscow must demonstrate in practice that it is truly ready for an agreement.
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