Berlin ready to become guarantor of Ukraine’s security

Germany is ready to become a guarantor of Ukraine's security but only if the parties to the war conclude a peace agreement.

"During several telephone conversations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky asked if Germany was ready to become one of the guarantors of international security, to which the Chancellor signaled overall readiness," German Federal Government Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said at a briefing on Wednesday, Ukrinform reports.

However, he added, it is too early to talk about any specific commitments as the precondition is a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. Moreover, it is necessary to understand what such an agreement could look like and how security guarantees will be defined. Hebestreit also did not speculate on the possible involvement of the Bundeswehr in the event of further aggression. He only reiterated Berlin’s stance that Germany would not become a direct "participant in this war."

"The goal should be to make Ukraine feel safe from being attacked by Russia again," the German Federal Government Spokesperson said.

Asked to comment on Moscow's statements that it scaled back military activity in northern Ukraine, Hebestreit said: "I would be fundamentally skeptical of something like that," he said.

As reported, a face-to-face round of talks between the Ukrainian and Russian delegations took place in Istanbul on March 29. Afterwards, the Ukrainian delegation put forward a number of proposals to end the Russian-Ukrainian war, including the signing of an international agreement on security guarantees for Ukraine. Potential guarantors could be the United States, Britain, China, Canada, France, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Poland, Israel.

On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian troops shell and destroy key infrastructure, massively fire on residential areas of Ukrainian cities, towns, and villages using artillery, MLRS, and ballistic missiles.

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