Ukraine must sit at the negotiating table, because only it can decide its own fate.
This was said on Monday before the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg by Günter Krichbaum, Parliamentary State Secretary for Europe at the German Foreign Ministry.
“Of course, there must be high‑level negotiations about Ukraine. But we insist that Ukraine be at the negotiating table. Negotiations can only take place with Ukraine — not conducted over its head. It is important that Ukraine be at the table, otherwise it will only resemble colonialism,” the diplomat said.
He called it good that there are plans for a meeting between the American and Russian sides, but was skeptical about the chosen location.
“We must remember the Budapest Memorandum, in which Russia, the former Soviet Union, recognized the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine in exchange for the removal of nuclear weapons. What has happened to that agreement is not forgotten,” Krichbaum emphasized.
He reminded listeners that Russia started this war against Ukraine. Ukraine does not need a dictated peace; it needs security. The key question, he said, is how Ukraine’s security can be guaranteed in the future. Europe must speak with one voice on this.
Commenting on plans to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s arms purchases, the Foreign Ministry representative stressed the need for everything to be “legally justified and financially sound,” backed by appropriate guarantees to avoid risks for states. This, he said, also means paying close attention to the impact on financial markets.
“But we agree with the proposal that von der Leyen presented… I consider it a viable path… The goal, of course, is to enable Ukraine to continue to arm itself. Ukraine is waging a defensive war against Russia, and the resources must be used for that,” Krichbaum said.
