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German Chancellor Scholz once once more condemned the Russian military for war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Butcha in the Bundestag on Wednesday, and demanded that Russia be held accountable, according to German television. Scholz criticized Russia’s assertion that the images were designed by Ukraine as cynical.
The war continued to touch the nerves of Germany. German Economy Minister Habeck continued to reject an immediate ban on imports of Russian natural gas, according to Deutsche Radio. At the same time, due to high energy prices, a serious shortage of truck drivers, the ban on Russian timber imports will lead to a lack of wooden pallets required for German goods transportation and other reasons, the German logistics industry is facing bankruptcy.
The German media continued to follow the war situation on a daily basis. Regarding the new sanctions plan launched by the EU, Süddeutsche Zeitung believes that the new sanctions have weighed all parties and are relatively balanced. Sanctions will hurt Putin’s regime, but the unscrupulous president certainly won’t change his policies because of it, or at least not anytime soon. Eastern European governments have called for tougher sanctions, such as bans on natural gas imports. But it would be wise for the EU to limit itself to less aggressive measures, such as halting coal imports from Russia. Member states can cope well with the abandonment of Russian coal. But on the other hand, a quick gas embargo would put a lot of pressure on countries like Germany, Italy, Austria and Hungary, and it would last for a long time.
“Brandenburg Oder Zeitung” is concerned regarding the expulsion of Russian diplomats by the German Foreign Office. The newspaper wrote: In response to the Butcha massacre, Germany expelled 40 Russian embassy employees for allegedly being spies. It is stupid to do so. If they were really spies, why didn’t Foreign Minister Belbok send them home sooner? If they are not, then expelling them is a false signal. Diplomacy ensures dialogue and is especially important for enemies. Germany’s expulsion of 40 Russian diplomats will lead to Russia’s expulsion of 40 German diplomats. The number of people talking to each other fell by 80. In this way, at some point, only the weapon can speak.
As far as the international situation is concerned, the German newspaper Die Welt believes that although it does not seem to be the case, for the West, the most dangerous enemy is not Russia, but China. Xi and Putin work closely together and make other countries depend on them. The United States and its allies have never been more isolated. This is the painful reality.
