German Ambassador to Ukraine Boris Ruge does not support the idea that ties with Russia should be restored or that Russian energy supplies to Europe via Ukraine should resume in order to achieve a lasting peace.
Source : Boris Ruge in an interview with European Pravda
Details : The ambassador said that the history of Germany's relations with Russia since 1991 was a clear example. Germany, he said, had made a terrible mistake.
" We were wrong to assume that we could develop a partnership with Russia. Russia walked away from the partnership we tried to establish and turned into this aggressive imperialist actor that is trying to overturn the entire political order of Europe, " Ruge said.
He noted that Germany and the rest of Europe had made considerable efforts at the time to build constructive and positive relations with Russia.
The diplomat said that Russia had simply abandoned the NATO-Russia Council, the energy partnership and other forms of cooperation, choosing instead war, hybrid attacks and interference in the information space and politics. He acknowledged that their attempt to build such cooperation with Russia had failed.
Ruge stressed that Germany had genuinely tried to build forward-looking relations with Russia. He said that those in Europe, including Germany, who now advocated rebuilding positive relations with Russia had forgotten that this approach had already been pursued for 20 years and had ended in enormous failure.
He said the greatest failure had been in the energy sector. Western Europe had once believed that its position as a major market for Russia would give Moscow an interest in preserving peace and maintaining positive relations. However, he said Putin's vision had proved completely different. Ruge added that Germany would not return to that approach and that he did not believe such a move would have the support of the majority of Germans.
He also expressed the view that very few people in Western Europe would be willing to make themselves dependent on Russia again in any way.
Background : The ambassador also believes that there have been no genuine peace negotiations in the context of Russia's war against Ukraine because it is Russia that does not want peace.
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