Berlin has no intention of returning to normal relations with Russia, Lithuania’s Parliament Speaker Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen says after returning from Germany.
“I heard in a number of conversations yesterday that they no longer see the possibility of returning to the so-called ‘business as usual’, having relations as they have been for decades. And I think this is a good and important message because we would have been much weaker as a European Union, as a bloc, without Berlin’s leadership,” she told the radio Žinių Radijas on Wednesday morning.
During her Tuesday meetings with German politicians, Čmilytė-Nielsen said she heard several times the acknowledgement that Germany’s decades-long policy towards Russia and its growing dependence on Russian energy resources “was a mistake”.
“The good news I heard when I was there is that a decision has been made to start supplying heavy weapons [to Ukraine] after all, and also a resolution will be debated in the German parliament this week and it should oblige, encourage the chancellor to decide on further arms supplies, something the Ukrainians have been asking for,” she said.
Germany is already taking measures to give up Russian oil and coal and is also considering ways to eliminate its dependence on gas, the Lithuanian parliament speaker said.
“There’s no longer any goodwill left as Russia is now seen for what its actions show it to be: an aggressor, a state that is committing bloody crimes, crimes against humanity, and committing genocide in Ukraine. This can already be classified that way. Our allies within the European Union view it this way,” she said.
During her visit to Germany earlier this week, Čmilytė-Nielsen tried to convince German politicians of the need to offer Ukraine a faster route to EU membership, and they also discussed military aid to Ukraine and greater German military presence in the Baltic states.
Newsletter
Every Friday morning.
