Business

Ex-German minister calls out Ukrainian ‘conspiracy theories’

Sigmar Gabriel says Berlin has every right to refute false narratives spread by Kiev’s envoy to the country

Sigmar Gabriel, who served as Germany’s top diplomat from 2017 to 2018, says the current government in Berlin can and should defend itself against “conspiracy theories”It was referred to by Andrey Melnyk, the Ukrainian Ambassador.

Gabriel wrote that he was describing the situation in an opinion piece published Sunday by Der Spiegel. “dangerous”According to the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s narrative, this was the story that the Ukrainian representative in Berlin told. “for decades established a cobweb of contacts with Russia,”The alleged involvement of members the current German government.

The former foreign minister said that he took Melnyk’s ‘cobweb’ reference to mean that Steinmeier and the whole of Merkel’s office had helped Moscow “co-organize” its lobby in the country – an allegation Gabriel dismissed as “untruthful and malicious.”His belief is that the government before him was “had done more than others in Europe to support Ukraine.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was quick to comment on Gabriel’s article. She argued in Telegram that Melnyks are not to be trusted. “with exactly the same ideology, though not in the guise of ambassadors, but rather armed with assault rifles and with ‘Azov’ patches, have been terrorizing people with Ukrainian and Russian passports in Ukraine as well as threatening Russia for the past eight years.”

Learn more

FILE PHOTO.
Ukraine explains decision to shun German president

Zakharova recommended that Berlin officials try to picture how they might feel “if such a monster was to grow near Germany,”Simply because “Washington wanted to turn a neighboring country into a bull terrier that would be set on the Germans.”

Elle also noted that the German government expelled “cooperation-oriented Russian diplomats,”They continue to participate in an “epistolary polemic with the Ukrainian ambassador hell-bent on nationalism.”

As for Gabriel’s assessment of German-Ukrainian diplomatic relations, he singled out one more example of conspiracy theories allegedly spread by Ukrainian officials and lapped up by the German media – that Merkel’s government had supposedly advocated, without putting forth any conditions whatsoever, the removal of some of the sanctions imposed on Moscow following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014. Gabriel insists that Berlin agreed to lift the measures only in exchange for Moscow’s agreement to pull out its “heavy weapons from Eastern Ukraine and its consent to the deployment of UN peacekeepers”To the region. He continued to assert that “this proposal was never followed up on and implemented by the parties involved.”

The former official in Merkel’s government described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision to recall an invitation to Ukraine for President Steinmeier as “unprecedented”It is annoying. However, Gabriel acknowledged that Kiev’s emotional reaction was understandable under the exceptional circumstances the country is facing. He proceeded to admit to certain shortcomings Germany’s leadership had made in assessing Russia in recent years, as well as its failure to heed the warnings coming from Eastern European nations. Gabriel encouraged German politicians to be open to fair criticism.

Learn more

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. © AFP / John MACDOUGALL
Ukrainian move ‘irritating’ – Germany

However, all of these do not allow Ukrainian officials to propagandize lies. “intentional misrepresentations”He added that he knew more about German officials.

Steinmeier announced Tuesday that the planned trip to Kiev will not happen as he was ill. “wasn’t wanted”Ukraine Zelensky received the Presidents of Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Lithuania on Wednesday.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly criticized the German president for his supposed connections with Russian leaders.

[ad_2]

Tags

Related Articles

Back to top button