US needs Europe, German defence minister says

Berlin: German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius urged European governments to act more confidently toward the United States.

It would be a mistake “if we stared at the White House like a rabbit staring at a snake,” Pistorius told the RND media group.

He added: “Then we would lose focus on what we need to do: Become more sovereign and independent.”

US President Donald Trump relies on uncertainty and fear to achieve his goals, “but those who are afraid make the wrong decisions, so let’s not allow ourselves to be intimidated,” said the defence minister. 

Pistorius was referring to European governments’ resistance to Trump’s renewed push to have the US take control of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of Denmark. 

Europe’s strategic importance to the US
He stressed that the US needs Europe just as much as the Europeans need the US, saying that Europe is of geostrategic and geoeconomic importance to Washington.

“Imagine if Europe were to become Russia’s sphere of influence if [Russian President] Vladimir Putin succeeded in driving the Americans out of here or causing them to withdraw,” Pistorius said. 
Washington would be “sandwiched between Russia and China. That would certainly not be in the Americans’ interest,” he added.

‘No signs that Russia seriously wants peace,’ says Pistorius
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said he doubts that Russian President Vladimir Putin really desires peace as the US leads efforts to end Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

In comments published on Saturday, Pistorius told the RND media group that although US President Donald Trump had given new impetus to diplomatic efforts toward peace, recent actions by Moscow seemed to speak a different language.

 “So far, [...] I see no signs that Russia seriously wants peace,” Pistorius said, noting that even while recent US-led negotiations in Abu Dhabi were going on, Putin had attacked Ukraine  “in a way that has hardly been seen in this war.”

Pistorius also rejected claims by the Kremlin that its attacks have never targeted civilians or civilian infrastructure, saying: “This is terror directed exclusively at the civilian population during a winter with temperatures of minus 20 degrees [Celsius] (-4 degrees Fahrenheit).”

The minister added that Putin has shown no willingness to compromise.