BERLIN, April 5. /TASS/. Germany should not become a party to the conflict in Ukraine. The potential presence of German troops in Ukraine is a red line that the country must not cross, the country’s Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck reiterated.
"We should not become a party to this war. It is important to always keep our distance," Habeck said on air in a broadcast by Deutschlandfunk radio. When answering a question as to where he would personally draw a red line, the senior official said: "The presence of German troops in Ukraine."
On Monday, Habeck, along with a small delegation representing German business, arrived on an unannounced visit to Kiev. The agenda for the trip covered Ukraine’s future reconstruction and energy cooperation. This marks the vice chancellor’s first visit to Ukraine as a federal minister since the start of the special military operation. In May 2021, he visited the country in his then-capacity as chair of the Green Party and drew harsh criticism even from his fellow party members for demanding that Kiev be supplied with defensive weapons. Currently, the Greens are the most vocal supporters in Germany of providing Ukraine with weapons.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly pointed out that Germany and NATO in general would not be a party to the conflict in Ukraine, although the West would continue to support the country as long as necessary.