The German foreign Minister is attempting at his second visit to Moscow to send in the fifth or sixth meeting with the Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov, many of the messages at the same time and to mix it too much. In the most up to date item on the topics list, the endangered Treaty to ban nuclear missiles, medium-range, wants Heiko Maas (SPD) certainly not create the impression that there is in Germany or even Europe views other than in the United States.
John Age
Political correspondent in Berlin.
F. A. Z.
The American President Donald Trump at the end of last year, had announced that Washington would suspend the INF Treaty, because Russia is running since years, the development and the construction of new cruise missile, whose range was so great that they fall into the category of medium-range missiles (500 to 5000 kilometers). The European Nato countries do not share this view, and Maas, was asked by Russian media if Germany wanted to take in this case, an “intermediary role”, wich in Moscow by the uniform attitude of the Nato. He said: “Russia is on the train.”
Lavrov also remained over the Maas at the reasoning that was presented to the Russian side last at the beginning of the week, the Americans for talks on the INF Treaty in Geneva. Donald Trump have now logged surprisingly, the termination of the contract; long the Americans would not have said, the manner in which the Russians violated the Treaty allegedly; now you are not ready to present satellite images or other evidence to prove that the Russian missiles would actually have a range, which cancels the agreement.
The German foreign Minister held in the presence Lawrows mind: the concerns of The Americans against the development of the new Russian cruise missiles had already been long argued that already in the reign of President Barack Obama. That the Russian side had long denied that it was testing a new weapons system, and now but a limited inspection of this system is wool, you don’t contribute “to strengthen the trust in the continued existence of the INF Treaty”.
