Germany’s Baerbock won’t rule out sending troops into Ukraine

BERLIN — Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has refused to rule out deploying Bundeswehr soldiers to Ukraine as part of any future cease-fire deal.

Speaking ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels set to discuss the war on Ukraine, Baerbock said that the “German side will support everything that serves peace in the future” adding that it would do so “with all its strength.”

Over recent weeks, the arrival of thousands of North Korean soldiers in Ukraine has revived discussion over whether European troops should be sent to help Kyiv’s military fend off Russia and its allies as part of a coordinated peace deal. That’s even though there’s no accord currently in place.

United States President-elect Donald Trump’s top team is reportedly considering forcing European governments to deploy soldiers to staff a demarcation line separating Russia and Ukraine as part of its plan to force an end the war.

The European Union’s new top diplomat Kaja Kallas said over the weekend that she wasn’t “ruling anything out” when it comes to fixing a European military presence inside Ukraine as part of any cease-fire deal but said it was up to Kyiv to decide.

The German government has so far been resistant to backing any deployment plan, but Nico Lange, a former chief of staff at Germany’s defense ministry who is now a fellow at think tank CEPA, says “it costs nothing” for Baerbock to indicate Berlin will back any international peace effort.

“Everybody is discussing the second step before the first,” said Lange. “Putin has no reason to stop [Russia’s military offensive].”

A snap election set for Feb. 23 is likely to shuffle much of the current German Cabinet, with the center-right, and pro-Ukraine, Christian Democrats way ahead in the polls. Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a package of €650 million in already approved military aid during a visit to Kyiv on Monday.