BERLIN, July 10. (DPA/EP) –
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has harshly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin for the large number of children among the victims of the war in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Children’s Prosecutor’s Office reported on Saturday that at least 347 children have been killed and 647 injured in attacks carried out by Russia since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine in late February.
The latest balance of civilian victims of the United Nations, dated July 4, puts 335 children dead and 521 wounded for a total of 4,889 civilians killed and 6,263 wounded since the beginning of the invasion.
Baerbock has recalled as one of the “worst moments” of his mandate the images of children shot during a visit to Ukraine. “That says it all about the fact that you cannot negotiate with this Putin at the moment,” the minister declared in an interview with ‘Der Spiegel’.
“This is an annihilation. Even of children,” added the minister about the consequences for the civilian population of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. “Having to endure that nothing can be done: that is also sometimes the brutality of foreign policy,” she lamented.
The minister explained that she would have liked to guarantee “humanitarian corridors from the disputed areas in Ukraine”, but clarified that she would have had to support this action by military means.
Although the West supplies weapons to Ukraine, Baerbock has ruled out direct military involvement in the country. The reason given is that Putin could assess such action as a direct involvement of the West in the war.
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