Time for talks with Kremlin has not yet come - Steinmeier

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said this on the Welt television channel, Ukrinform reports.

"At this time, it must be recognized that the situation for negotiations or a ceasefire has obviously not yet come," he said.

He added that these issues would also not be resolved without Ukraine.

The German president said he did not see a ceasefire without guaranteeing that future peace will be just as a way out of the situation. Those who demand this, he noted, should not forget that "if Ukraine stops defending itself, it will mean the end of Ukraine."

Speaking about future security guarantees for Ukraine, Steinmeier noted that NATO allies were conducting confidential consultations on what they should look like. He considers it wrong to disclose the details of the agreements at this stage and hopes that the partners will reach a consensus.

Anyone who claims to know when this war will end is lying, Steinmeier said, and refused to give his own prediction. According to him, the war that Russia launched against Ukraine on February 24 and that brought unbearable suffering and hundreds of thousands of victims has been going on for "too long," but Russia can end it very quickly, even today, if it withdraws its troops from Ukrainian territory.

Steinmeier recognized the naivety of the then policy not only of Germany, but also of the entire West towards Russia, which envisaged the integration of the Russian Federation into the common European security architecture.

Steinmeier, who served as foreign minister in Angela Merkel's government, and as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, previously advocated strengthening cooperation with Russia. Being the author of the "Steinmeier formula," he also insisted on the fulfillment of the terms of the Minsk agreements. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he admitted that he was wrong about Russia.

Photo: bundespraesident.de