Russian envoy describes German arms deliveries to Ukraine as crossing ‘red line’

MOSCOW (AA) – Germany crossed “the red line” when it started supplying lethal weapons to Ukraine, Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev has said.

In an interview with the Russian daily Izvestia, Nechayev recalled that Germany bears moral and historical responsibility for the crimes of Nazi Germany, committed in Russia during the Great Patriotic War — the part of World War II that started for Russia after Germany attacked it in 1941.

“The very fact of supplying the Ukrainian regime with German-made lethal weapons used not only against Russian servicemen but also against civilians of Donbas is the red line that the German authorities should not have crossed, including taking into account the moral and historical responsibility of Germany to our people for the crimes of Nazism during the Great Patriotic War,” Nechayev said.

The ambassador added that “pumping Kyiv with arms at Germany’s Anglo-Saxon NATO allies’ demand is a way to nowhere,” and such measures will only protract the conflict, and as a result, will increase the number of victims.

Nechayev said the policy of today’s Germany toward Russia is built on “accusations of all mortal sins, as well as unwillingness to recognize objective realities and to take into account the genesis of the Ukrainian crisis,” adding that Berlin is one of the principal initiators of anti-Russian sanctions.

He noted that the German government unilaterally started destroying mutually beneficial bilateral relations, “unique in their scale and richness,” which were based on a partnership.

“The process of post-war reconciliation of our countries and peoples is being eroded,” he said.

There are some voices that call to consciousness but they do not play any significant role, he regretted.

About the rallies amid the energy crisis in Europe, Nechayev said it is Germany’s internal affairs.

“We are far from gloating about this. We do not want to speculate about the growth of protest sentiments.

“We consider the ongoing processes to be an internal matter of Germany, in which we do not interfere. Moreover, we do not read high-flown moral teachings, although, in the West, they are constantly trying to do this to Russians,” he stressed.

Nechayev also recalled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks that Moscow is ready to start gas deliveries via Nord Stream 2 even “tomorrow” — as soon as the EU gives the green light.

As for Nord Stream I, the envoy said Canada, after maintenance, sent the turbine, necessary for the resumption of its work, to Germany instead of Russia in violation of the relevant contract, and the sides — the Russian energy company Gazprom and German Siemens — are currently in talks about what to do next.

Asked about visa limitations for Russians in the EU, the ambassador said such restrictions violate the basic principle of freedom of movement.

On February 24, Russia launched its “special military operation to protect the people of Donbas,” which the Western countries slammed as aggression and imposed the strictest in world history sanctions aiming to cripple the Russian economy and make it impossible for Moscow to continue the war.