Will the conflict between Moscow and Kiev end? German ambassador hopeful of Trump-Putin meeting

New Delhi, October 17 (IANS). Germany is very concerned about the situation in Ukraine after the ceasefire between Israel and the Gaza Strip. He wants to see an end to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann on Friday expressed hope that the next proposed meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin would be more fruitful than the last one held in Alaska. This applies to Europe as a whole. Ackerman said at the NDTV World Summit that we received a warning two to three weeks ago, when Russian fighter jets suddenly entered NATO territory for 15 minutes or so. Then suddenly drones were seen over Scandinavian airports, it’s not clear if they were Russian or not, but probably, so I think Europe feels more threatened. The German Ambassador to India, Philipp Ackermann, said that we do not feel any fatigue or lethargy. We only feel the desire and the urge to end this war. He mentioned a possible meeting between Russian President Putin and US President Donald Trump. I hope that this meeting will be more fruitful than the previous meeting. I think it is very important to see that the American side has now at least indicated that they are willing to talk to Ukraine and this has made Russia a little nervous. The US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, recently said at the NATO Defense Council, we are not sitting idle, we will do something and so I think you have to have a mixture of strength, decisiveness and willingness to negotiate. Unlike the Middle East, I don’t see the hostilities ending. It will be a peace process, but it is not yet complete. He said that this will happen soon in Russia and Ukraine. The German ambassador said that Ukraine is helping Germany to deal with drone attacks, because they are very skilled at fighting drones. Their technology is really advanced. Not ours, so we’ll learn from them. Philip Ackerman said that suddenly we are seeing a Russian war. If it is Russia, I think we have to be very careful. It’s not proven, but I think he at least crossed the line into NATO territory and it’s an act of provocation. We must answer. We must prepare our armed forces to fight and stop this invasion and therefore the defense expenditure of my country has increased significantly to put the army in a better position. –IANS KK/VC Share this story Tags