Wadephul calls for credible security guarantees
There had to be a reliable commitment to stand by Ukraine if Russia attacks again, he said.
Berlin (dpa) – Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has stressed the importance of serious Western security guarantees – above all from the United States – in the context of negotiations on a ceasefire in Ukraine. “This would of course involve a commitment and a genuine willingness on the part of those making the promises to stand by Ukraine if it were attacked by Russia again,” Wadephul told Deutsche Presse Agentur (dpa) in Berlin.
Ukraine would only be prepared to make concessions – including on possible territorial issues – if these were backed up by credible security assurances on the part of the West, first and foremost the United States, said Wadephul, adding that Europeans would have to make their own contributions, too. How such guarantees could be structured, he said, would be discussed in more detail “once we have a ceasefire and once we can see that Russia is prepared to think seriously about peace”.
Moscow itself seemed willing to negotiate, Wadephul said, but that was not the same as being genuinely prepared to bring about peace. “A genuine commitment to peace on the part of the Russians is something we haven’t yet seen.”
