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The chief of staff of the German Navy was torpedoed. He doesn’t criticize Putin enough …

The German navy chief resigned on Saturday after being showered with harsh criticism for saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect and that Kiev would never retake Crimea, now annexed by Moscow.

" I have asked Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht to release me from my duties with immediate effect ," Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement. " The minister accepted my request ".

Schoenbach made the remarks in a think tank discussion in India on Friday and the video was posted on social media. The comments came at a delicate time, with NATO confronting Russia on the Eastern front. Negotiations are currently underway to reduce the escalation

In New Delhi, Schoenbach, speaking in English, said Putin seeks to be treated as an equal by the West.

" What he (Putin) really wants is respect ," Schoenbach said.

And my God, giving respect to someone is cheap, even at no cost. … It's easy to give him the respect he really requires, and probably even deserves , ”said Schoenbach, calling Russia a historic and important country.

Schoenbach admitted that Russia's actions in Ukraine needed to be addressed. But he added that " the Crimean peninsula is gone, it will never return, this is a fact ", contradicting the Western common position that Moscow's 2014 annexation of the peninsula to Ukraine cannot be accepted. and must be overturned.

Prior to Schoenbach's resignation, the Defense Ministry publicly criticized his remarks, saying they did not reflect Germany's position in either content or wording.

Schoenbach apologized for his comments.

My hasty remarks in India… are putting a lot of strain on my office ,” he said. " I believe this step (the resignation) is necessary to avoid further damage to the German navy, to the German forces and, in particular, to the Federal Republic of Germany ".

The German admiral's statements were inappropriate for two reasons: first of all the moment, that of a tough NATO-Russia confrontation, then because German behavior already appears ambiguous towards Ukraine and NATO allies, after banning the export of some weapons to Ukraine and not having granted airspace to British aircraft bound there. In reality a lot of what he says is common sense, but then one wonders how reliable Germany's presence in NATO is.


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The article Torpedoed the chief of staff of the German Navy. He does not criticize Putin enough… he comes from ScenariEconomici.it .


This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/silurato-il-capo-di-stato-maggiore-della-marina-tedesca-non-critica-putin-abbastanza/ on Sun, 23 Jan 2022 08:00:25 +0000.