The chief of Germany’s navy has resigned after arguing at a livestreamed event that Putin “deserves respect” and Kyiv will never win back annexed Crimea – comments that Ukraine’s ambassador in Berlin said “massively” called into question Germany’s trustworthiness.
Vice-admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach, who has led Germany’s naval force and represented it externally since March 2020, made his comments at a talk organised by a thinktank in Delhi on Friday.
Taking questions after a short presentation, Schönbach seemed to downplay the possibility of a military conflict with Russia and Ukraine. “Is Russia really interested in having a tiny strip of Ukrainian soil, to integrate into their country?” the 56-year-old said. “No. Putin is putting on pressure because he knows he can do it, he splits the European Union.”
What Putin really wanted, Schönbach argued, was respect. “On eye level, he wants respect. And my God, giving him respect is low cost, even no cost. It is easy to give him the respect he demands, and probably deserves.”
The comments come at a time when Germany’s stance in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is under increased scrutiny, and Europe’s largest economy is increasingly isolated in its refusal to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons, a position the government reiterated on Wednesday last week.
The navy chief also said the annexed territories of Crimea were “gone” and would “never come back” to Kyiv, arguing in favour of closer economic ties with Russia to contain China’s rise. “Having this big country, even if it is not a democracy, as a bilateral partner … probably keeps Russia away from China.”
Describing himself as “a very radical Roman Catholic”, Schönbach said Russia was also a “Christian country, even if Putin is an atheist, it doesn’t matter”.
The comments drew heavy criticism from Ukraine’s ambassador in Germany when they emerged on social media.
Andriy Melnyk told Die Welt newspaper that Schönbach’s comments had “put the entire Ukrainian public in deep shock” and “massively called into question Germany’s trustworthiness and reliability, not just from a Ukrainian point of view.”
He said: “This patronising attitude subconsciously also reminds Ukrainians of the horrors of the Nazi occupation, when Ukrainians were treated as subhuman.”
In a statement released on Saturday night, Schönbach said he had asked Germany’s defence minister, Christine Lambrecht, to relieve him of his duties with immediate effect, and the minister had accepted his request.
“My careless comments in India on security and military policy are an increasing burden on my office,” his statement said. “I consider this step necessary to avoid further damage to the German navy, the German military, but especially the Federal Republic of Germany.”
According to a report in Der Spiegel, Lambrecht had decided at a meeting on Saturday morning to call in Schönbach for a meeting on Monday, where it is likely he would have been fired.
