The head of the German navy, vice-Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach, has resigned over controversial comments he made over Ukraine.
Speaking at a think-tank discussion in India on Friday he said the idea that Russia wanted to invade Ukraine was nonsense, adding that all President Putin wanted was respect.
“It is easy to give him the respect he really demands – and also probably deserves,” he said, adding that the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, “is gone and will never come back”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry described Schönbach’s comments as “categorically unacceptable”.
A number of countries have supplied weapons to Ukraine, including the US and UK. But Germany – a major arms manufacturer and dealer – has refused Ukraine’s request for ammunition, saying it would be inappropriate given Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union during WW2, and the massacre of more than 33,000 Jews by the German army at Babi Yar, in Ukraine, in September 1941.
There has, however, been speculation that Angela Merkel’s friendship with Vladimir Putin is still paying dividends for the the Russian President.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a series of posts on Twitter that Germany’s stance encouraged Mr Putin to launch an attack.
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