German Chancellor Angela Merkel favors the idea of giving Ukraine equipment that would help effectively control the border.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament and ally of Chancellor Angela Merkel, MEP Elmar Brok, said this in an interview with the TSN.
As for military support from the European Union, Brock believes that talking about it now would be wrong.
“The purpose of the Europeans and the United States is to reach a political and diplomatic solution. Military confrontation would have closed the way to negotiations. However, we believe, and Angela Merkel herself insists on this, that we should help Ukraine with equipment so it could effectively control the border with Russia and stop deliveries of weapons and fighters,” Brok said.
According to him, the Chancellor is actively attached to the issues to help Ukraine with technical equipment to increase the number of OSCE international observers.
“But in no way we want this conflict to become an international and lead to what happened in Transnistria. Ukraine does not want this, the Ukrainian government does not want this. The authority over the entire Ukrainian territory, including the border control, should remain in the hands of the Ukrainian government,” Brok said.
The politician also explained why Germany so drastically rejects Ukraine’s membership in NATO.
“Now talking about NATO enlargement would mean pouring oil on the fire. We want to reach a diplomatic solution. Because Article 5 of the Treaty of Washington [admitting Ukraine into NATO – ed.] would mean that NATO went to war with Russia. And no one in the world may want this. Because it can lead to a confrontation using nuclear weapons. So now it’s a matter of time. And the Ukrainian government also announced that NATO membership is not being considered now,” Brok emphasized.
АМ
07.08.2014 10:45
