Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had caused a “historic rupture” in his country’s relations with Moscow and that the war had shattered former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev’s dream of a “common European homeland”.
Steinmeier, who belongs to a wing of Germany’s Social Democrats and has long called on Moscow for closer economic ties for a Western-oriented world order, said the Russian invasion on February 24 had brought about a change in the world, Reuters reported.
“When we look at Russia today, there is no room for old dreams…Our countries are against each other today. In Germany, too, we entered a different phase, a state of insecurity, a period of war, violence and flight because of fears that the war would spread like wildfire across Europe. We thought we would overcome it.”
Steinmeier made a surprise visit to Kiev last Tuesday and promised Ukraine more support, especially in the field of air defense. It was the first visit by the German President since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Steinmeier had originally planned to visit Ukraine last April. However, Kiev refused to receive Steinmeier over concerns about his past support for Western rapprochement with Russia. Kiev and Berlin later resolved their differences.
