Europeans Do Not Want to Die for Kiev - Former German Minister

Former German Minister for Economic Cooperation, Erhard Eppler, said that Ukraine's economic revival depends on the cooperation with Russia, as the EU cannot cope with the recovery of Ukraine alone.

The visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the United States once again showed that there is no unity between Brussels and Washington on the situation in Ukraine, former Minister for Economic Cooperation, Erhard Eppler, wrote in his essay in the German newspaper “Sueddeutsche Zeitung.”

Eppler stated that Europe is interested only in the peaceful settlement of the conflict and underlined the key role of Russia in this process.

“The Europeans, also German and French, want a Ukraine, which has a chance to become a viable, safe, economically developed state that would be close to the EU from political and economic point of view, but would not be a part of  NATO,” Eppler wrote.

He also added that such vision is possible only in case of Russia’s economic cooperation with Ukraine.  “The Europeans do not want to die for Kiev and with it,” Eppler said.

In April 2014, Kiev authorities launched a military operation in eastern regions of the country, following the Maidan events and the coup. According to the UN, the conflict claimed lives of more than 5,300 civilians so far.