BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th February, 2022) Berlin is ready to pay a high economic price for Kiev's security, with the possibility of imposing sanctions on Moscow should the tense situation around Ukraine escalate, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday.
"We will do everything to prevent further escalation. We have jointly prepared a number of stringent measures against Russia in this case. These sanctions are unprecedented and agreed to by all partners. Against this background, I want to emphasize that due to the close economic relations between all partners and, first of all, my country - yes, we are also ready to pay a high economic price for this, since it is about Ukraine's security," Baerbock said at a briefing in Kiev broadcast on Welt tv channel.
According to the minister, as far as de-escalation, "the ball is in Moscow's court," which is responsible for "defusing the tension in this situation."
"There is a willingness for a serious dialogue with Russia at any moment, but also absolute clarity about the consequences ... in the event of further aggression against Ukraine," Baerbock noted.
The German foreign minister added that Kiev "could count on" Berlin both in the "current aggressive situation" and in other issues, including the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, gas transit and partnership in the energy sector.
On Saturday, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the head of the German parliament's defense committee, told Kiev to stop criticizing Berlin for its position of not supplying weapons to Ukraine. Berlin says that it has the policy of not sending weapons to war zones.
In the past few months, the West and Ukraine have accused Russia of amassing troops near the Ukrainian border in alleged preparation for invasion. Russia replied that it has no intention of invading Ukraine, while stressing that it has the right to move its forces within its own territory.
Russia has also expressed concerns over NATO military activity near its borders and ongoing military support of Ukraine, including an increase in the number of Western instructors in the breakaway Donbas region. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow is not excluding that the "hysteria" around Ukraine fueled by the West is aimed at concealing Kiev's plans to sabotage the Minsk Agreements on Donbas.
