The German politician said that his support for Russia's Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline was a clear mistake.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier repented of mistakes in his policy toward the Russian Federation and acknowledged his failure to integrate Russia into the European security structure. This was reported by the German newspaper Tagesschau.

Steinmeier said his support for Russia's Nord Stream-2 pipeline was a clear mistake.

"We clung to bridges that Russia no longer believed in and our partners warned us about," he said.

The German president also said that Russian President Putin was responsible for the war, but that "does not mean we do not need to rethink things where we have made mistakes."

"We have not been able to create a common European home, including Russia. We have failed to integrate Russia into a common security architecture,” Steinmeier said.

He explained that in his political assessments of Putin, he could not assume that the Kremlin master would agree to his country's complete economic, political, and moral ruin because of his own imperial madness.

"I was wrong, as were others," he said, adding that with Putin-led Russia, "there will be no return to the pre-war status quo."

Germany is also sending 40 Russian embassy staff in response to the mass killings of Ukrainians by Russians in Bucha. Russian employees must leave the country within 5 days.