A German politician warned that if Ukraine loses financial and military support from the United States, Kyiv’s allies in Europe would not be able to compensate for the potential loss.
Omid Nouripour, an Iranian-born member of Germany’s Bundestag (parliament) and co-leader of the country’s Green Party, made the comments to a Berlin news agency, according to the German news channel n-tv.
His remarks come as President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday announced a $250 million military package for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces. However, that package could be the last aid Kyiv receives from the U.S. for its war with Russia until Congress agrees on more support. Currently, members of the Republican Party are resisting Biden’s request to provide an additional $60 billion in aid to Kyiv unless Democrats address security along the southern border of the U.S.
“It is hardly possible to simply compensate for what the Americans have achieved so far, neither in terms of materials nor in terms of money,” Nouripour said, per n-tv.
Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Nouripour added: “But of course, in this case, we Europeans will have to step up our support for Ukraine.”
Newsweek reached out to Nouripour’s office via email on Thursday for comment.
Nouripour’s statement follows controversial remarks made by German lawmaker Michael Kretschmer, the minister-president of Saxony, to a German magazine on Wednesday. Speaking to Der Spiegel, Kretschmer urged Ukraine to accept a “temporary” loss of territory in hopes of ending its war with Russia.
“It may be that Ukraine must first accept that certain territories are temporarily inaccessible to Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire,” Kretschmer said. “No square meter of Ukrainian territory has become Russian…But as in other major conflicts, it is time for a final solution.”
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko quickly denounced Kretschmer’s suggestion in a statement shared to Facebook on Wednesday, arguing that accepting any loss of territory would “inevitably lead to more aggression” from Russia.
“If Ukraine faces the temporary loss of territories, Russian troops will become closer to Germany and Saxony in particular,” Nikolenko said. “Concessions of the territories will inevitably lead to more aggression of Russia, which will undoubtedly go beyond the borders of Ukraine. Peace in Europe [depends on] the defeat of Moscow.”
Other German officials have publicly called on their country to increase its support for Ukraine.
In a December 16 interview with Welt am Sonntag, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius spoke of the need for Germany to ramp up weapons protection in order to defend itself and Ukraine since the U.S. could decrease its involvement in Kyiv’s war with Russia.
“We Europeans should be more involved in guaranteeing security on our continent. We have about 5-8 years to make up for what we have lost, from the point of view of the armed forces, industry and society,” Pistorius said.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.