Germany's ambassador to Ukraine has said the West should break Russia's ability to make war abroad, as Kyiv prepares for a spring counter offensive it hopes will demonstrate its continued ability to liberate territory after a year of intense fighting.
"The goal should be to deter Russia," Anka Feldhusen told journalists at a Media Center Ukraine briefing on Wednesday. "Russia should not be capable of attacking either Ukraine or other neighboring country again. This is our goal."
Germany is among the leading donors of military equipment to Ukraine over the past year, despite criticism that Berlin has been too slow to shed its institutionalized hesitance over foreign military interventions.
"The supply of weapons is one of the components" of degrading Russia's ability to wage war, Feldhusen said on Wednesday. "And we continue to do that."
"In my opinion, as a person who lives here in Ukraine at the border with Russia, there should be a very strong wall in order to prevent Russia from attacking Ukraine again."
Feldhusen suggested that such a wall might be formed by NATO's Article 5 collective defense clause. Kyiv has long sought membership of the transatlantic bloc but this has been rejected for fear of provoking Russian retaliation. Ukraine's leaders are still pushing for accession, although thus far they have only received vague promises of future inclusion.
"Having a country where war is going on join the alliance, it would be very difficult," Feldhusen said. "But the discussion is very active, it's underway and the secretary general of NATO (Jens Stoltenberg) should not be underestimated. He is very clear in his statements. And, in my opinion, he really wants to support Ukraine. And he keeps talking to the members on this basis. I cannot forecast any result of that."
Newsweek has contacted the Russian foreign ministry by email to request comment.
The proof of Germany's epochal Zeitenwende—meaning turning point—announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz in 2022 has been slower to materialize than Kyiv hoped. Indeed, recent reports suggest the Bundeswehr has done little with the $100 billion pot set aside for its modernization and expansion almost a year ago.
Still, German howitzers and munitions are already bombarding invading Russian troops along an 800-mile front in Ukraine, and German-made Leopard 2 tanks and Marder infantry fighting vehicles are now arriving in the country ahead of Kyiv's next push. American tanks will also be arriving within the year, with Scholz credited with bouncing the U.S. into the commitment.
"This war, it really changed a lot in the German position," Feldhusen said. German defense companies are now spooling up production capacities to meet the demands of Ukraine's hungry guns, she added.
"When I attended Munich Security Conference, I had meetings with many companies, German defense companies, and they are all ready to expedite and expand their manufacturing capacities," the ambassador said. "It's not an easy process."
The new European Union drive to source and produce more ammunition for Ukraine will be supported by Germany, Feldhusen said.
"It helps our companies in terms of their long-term planning, like employing specialists, building new factories, the process is already underway," she said. "I'm very optimistic that after such a period when everything seemed very slow to us, now the German economy can react in a way we expect of the German economy."
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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David Brennan is Newsweek's Diplomatic Correspondent covering world politics and conflicts from London with a focus on NATO, the European ... Read more
