Ukraine: Germany to strengthen Lithuanian army as Scholz begins diplomatic blitz

PM flies to Washington amid criticism of Berlin's way of mobilizing Russia

#Ukraine #Germanybeef #Lithuaniaforce #Scholzbegins #diplomaticblitz

Germany is preparing to send reinforcements to its battle group in Lithuania, with Chancellor Olaf Schultz heading to Washington to reassure NATO allies of its unity in the Ukraine crisis.

Germany's tentative plan for further deployment of troops comes after weeks of criticism in Berlin over Russia's mobilization of 145,000 troops on its border with Ukraine.

Berlin has refused to act on Kiev's arms call and has been vague about the future of Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany in the event of an incursion on the Ukrainian border.

But the German government will start a diplomatic blitz this week, with Scholz at the White House on Monday and German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock expected to be in Ukraine on Monday and Tuesday to inspect the front lines between Ukrainian troops and areas controlled by Russia's separatists.

Following a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, Scholz will welcome the Baltic heads of state and government in Berlin on Thursday to discuss the security situation in Eastern Europe.

Scholz, who succeeded Angela Merkel in December, will visit Ukrainian and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 14-15.

In an interview with Fink Media Group, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht highlighted the German government's military commitment to NATO's eastern flank.

"We [Germany] have already made a very important contribution in Lithuania, and we are the only country in the EU with a battle group," she said. "In principle, additional troops could be sent as reinforcements, and we are currently negotiating with Lithuania to find out what exactly makes sense in that regard...everyone in NATO can count on us."

Since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, there have been 5,000 troops in four battle groups led by the United States, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and other places. Of Lithuania's 1,200 NATO troops, Germany provides about half.

The United States has ordered an additional 3,000 troops to strengthen NATO's eastern allies, with the first troops arriving at the Rzeszów military base in southeastern Poland on Saturday.

In an interview published on Sunday, Lambrecht defended Germany's negative response to Kiev's demands for missile defense systems, electronic warfare tools, night vision goggles, digital radios, radar stations and military ambulances.

The German government has been widely mocked for instead sending 5,000 protective helmets and a field hospital.

Lambrecht said: “It has long been the clear stance of the federal government, even in previous legislative periods, that we do not deliver weapons to crisis areas in order not to escalate further there.

“In the Ukraine conflict we have negotiating partners who have come back to the negotiating table … That is why it is now our task to de-escalate. We want to resolve this conflict peacefully.”

Scholz has said the future of Nord Stream 2 will be on the table as part of a package of economic sanctions in the event of a Russian incursion of Ukrainian territory but he has been shy of making any stronger statements in public.

Last week, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, appeared to follow the US administration’s lead in trying to box Berlin in on the issue. “Nord Stream 2 cannot be excluded from the sanctions list, that is very clear,” she said.