Armin Laschet warns that Europe would not be able to defend itself without the United States and calls for stronger cooperation in NATO. At the same time, he points to the need for new negotiations with Russia on peace in Ukraine.
Leading German politician Armin Laschet, who is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag, spoke on Friday in favor of preserving NATO even with the participation of the United States. “If the Americans left NATO tomorrow, Europe would not be able to defend itself,” Laschet told German news broadcaster RTL/NTV. It informs the TASR based on the DPA report.
- Armin Laschet calls for the preservation of NATO with the participation of the USA.
- According to Laschet, Europe cannot defend itself without the US.
- Laschet promotes dialogue with Russia for influence on Ukraine.
According to the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), it is therefore necessary to cooperate with the Americans as long as possible, but at the same time, according to him, Europe itself must also be strengthened. At the same time, he emphasized that if Europe wants to influence the war in Ukraine, it must negotiate with Russia again. When asked how close peace is in Ukraine, Laschet replied that “none of us know – especially us Europeans, since unlike the USA we do not communicate with Russia”.
Negotiations on Ukraine
Laschet is cautiously optimistic about the talks between the representatives of the United States, Russia and Ukraine, which are scheduled to begin in Abu Dhabi on Friday evening for the first time in such a format. “The fact that the Russians and the Ukrainians in the United Arab Emirates will speak together again is a good signal, because this has not happened for a long time,” said the head of the foreign committee of the Bundestag.
Moscow continues to insist on its demand that Ukrainian forces withdraw from the remaining parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. This was confirmed by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov before the start of trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi. “Russia’s position is well known. Ukrainian troops must leave the territory of Donbass, that is a very important condition,” TASS quoted him as saying.
