Germany’s navy chief has stepped down over remarks he made about Russia and Crimea at an event in Delhi last week that have escalated into a diplomatic row between Germany and Ukraine.
Speaking at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MPIDSA) on Friday, Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach said that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be given the “respect he probably deserves” and that Crimea would never go back to Ukraine.
His comments that seemed to be sympathetic of Putin come amid fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine, as Russia has reportedly amassed over 100,000 troops on its western border with Ukraine. Russia had annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 amid global criticism.
The Crimean peninsula, Schönbach said at the event, “is gone. It’s never coming back. This is a fact.”
“Is Russia really interested in a small tiny strip of Ukraine soil to integrate into their country? No, this is nonsense. Putin is probably putting pressure because he can do it and he knows… he split us, he split the European Union. What he really wants is respect. And by God, giving someone respect is low-cost, even no-cost . . . it is easy to give him the respect he really demands — and probably also deserves,” he had said.
Referring to Russia, Schönbach went on to say, “I think having this big country, even if it is not a democracy, on our side” is important as it will probably keep “Russia away from China”. He, however, criticised Russia for its actions in Chechnya.
As Ukraine objected to the comments, Schönbach tendered his resignation late Saturday. According to a Reuters report, he said in a statement, “I have asked Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect… The minister has accepted my request.”
Schönbach’s comments come amid growing unease in Kyiv over Berlin’s position vis-à-vis Russia, with Ukraine criticising Germany for blocking the supply of weapons to the country through Nato. Ukraine has also been critical of Germany’s support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which will bring Russian gas directly to the country, bypassing Ukraine.
On Saturday, Ukraine said Germany’s actions and words will “undermine” the unity against Russia and “encourage” Putin, and summoned German ambassador Anka Feldhusen to stress “the categorical unacceptability” of Schönbach’s comments.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on Saturday, “Recent statements by Germany about the impossibility of transferring defence weapons to Ukraine, in particular due to permission to third parties, the futility of returning Crimea, hesitations to disconnect Russia from SWIFT, do not correspond to the level of our relations and the current security situation.” The SWIFT system is a global network used for international payments, and the West has been considering cutting off Russia from it.
Kuleba, however, thanked Germany for its support over the last seven years, saying, “Ukraine is grateful to Germany for its support since 2014, as well as for its diplomatic efforts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. But Germany’s current statements are disappointing and run counter to this support and effort.”
At the event, Schönbach also spoke about India’s “vital role in regional security and stability” and China as being “not that nice a country”.
Calling Beijing an “important partner” in certain aspects and a “strategic competitor” for India, he added that its behaviour, however, “has put pressure upon the international order”.
“All Indo-Pacific concepts refer to the rules-based international order. However, from my humble perspective, they seem to differ from their objectives, differ in the importance they attach to various policy fields, differ in the relevance they see for multilateral approaches, and above all, they differ on the question of whether and how to incorporate the white elephant, which is China — a regional power and an emerging world power that, in some cases, challenges the rules of the international order… tries to design the future global order according to its own views,” Schönbach said.
Calling India “a very important strategic partner” in the region, he said, “We have resolved to continue cooperation with India towards supporting the security and stability in the region… Without India, nothing happens here”.
On Pakistan, he said that he was “well aware” that “when Germany even gives technology to Pakistan, it goes one by one through Pakistan in the direction of India.”