“The principle of hope will not protect us from Putin”

Aug. 4 () –

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Saturday defended the deal with the United States to deploy long-range military equipment in the country by 2026, citing the threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as justification.

“Making foreign policy today means recognising that the principle of hope will not protect us from Putin’s Russia,” Baerbock argued in an opinion piece published by the Sunday newspaper Bild.

In this regard, the German Foreign Minister has pointed out that protection “now” is more related to “investments in (the) security and strength” of Germany, the European Union and NATO, to deal with the “escalation” with which Putin responds “to each peace initiative.”

“This includes the decision to deploy long-range US weapons systems,” he added, asserting that these weapons would provide “a credible deterrent” to Russian aggression.

The United States announced on July 10 that it would deploy long-range military equipment on German territory in 2026 to demonstrate Washington’s “commitment” to NATO and its contributions to “European integrated deterrence.”

The announcement came at a NATO summit in Washington to mark the 75th anniversary of the alliance, whose leaders agreed during the meeting to provide a minimum of 40 billion euros per year for Ukraine by 2025.