German Foreign Minister says support for Ukraine will not stop

German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock speaks during a budget debate at the Bundestag’s lower house of parliament in Berlin, Germany, September 7, 2022. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi/File Photo

FRANKFURT, Sept. 10 (Reuters) – German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said Berlin’s support for Ukraine would not waver in the face of reduced energy supplies from Russia when she arrived on her second visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday.

“We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Burbock said in a statement, adding that German support would include weapons, as well as humanitarian and financial assistance.

In May, Burbock became the first member of the German government to visit Kyiv since Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation.”

Germany, along with other European Union countries, is trying to support homes and businesses burdened by further rising energy prices after Russia cut natural gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.

“(Vladimir) Putin is betting that we are tired of our compassion for the suffering of Ukraine,” Barbock said.

“This plan will not work and should not work because all of Europe knows that Ukraine is protecting our peace and security order,” she added.

Burbock, who is scheduled to meet with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba later on Saturday, said one of the purposes of her visit was to offer Ukraine assistance in clearing anti-personnel mines left by Russian troops on farmland and buildings. The task could take decades, she said.

Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Alexander Ratz Editing by Alexander Smith and Helen Popper

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