Germany is toothless when it comes to facing down Russia

Ukraine’s list of demands towards Germany is straightforward: it wants Berlin to stand up to Russia. With tens of thousands of Russian troops stationed on Ukraine’s border, its plea is urgent. It is just a matter of time before this week’s Russian-American security talks in Geneva end in a diplomatic stalemate. When that happens, an invasion could be imminent. But there’s bad news for Kiev: Berlin is in no position to help.

In an interview with the German press, Kiev’s man in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, urged Angela Merkel’s successor to intervene quickly. Among Melnyk’s list of demands are arms supplies, ‘massive military support’, admission of Ukraine into the EU and Nato, as well as ‘a final end to Nord Stream 2’. Kiev’s ambassador attempted to put force behind these demands by evoking the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. He claimed the country had ‘the same responsibility to Ukraine that it has to Israel.