(Photo Credit: Sandro Halank via Creative Commons 3.0)
G7 foreign ministers release their own statement of condemnation against the Kremlin.
In an interview with Reuters today, German politician Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the Christian Democratic Union leadership front-runner and protege of Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the European Union and U.S. should consider a full blockade of all Russian vessels at their ports in response to the Kerch Strait incident.
In her interview for Reuters television, Kramp-Karrenbauer said:
“If it’s confirmed that the aggression came from Russia … then I think there must be a clear answer. One answer might be, for example, to stop Russian ships coming from the region—from the Sea of Azov—from entering European or U.S. ports until this situation with Ukraine is resolved.”
Kramp-Karrenbauer’s comments are decidedly more strident than Merkel’s, which have called for ramped up sanctions, and suggest that if she is able to take control of the CDU in next week’s leadership vote, she will seek to restore the party to its days of Helmut Kohl’s leadership. She has also pledged to increase defense spending—likely music to the ears of President Donald Trump—and taking a bigger role in global affairs.
Her chief rival for leadership of Germany’s leading political party, Friedrich Merz, has pledged to move the party even farther to the right politically.
Simultaneous to Kramp-Karrenbauer’s comments to Reuters, the foreign ministers of the Group of 7 issued their own statement condemning Russia’s actions in the Kerch Strait last weekend:
“We the G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union, express our utmost concern about Russia’s actions against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait and surrounding waters, which have dangerously raised tensions. There is no justification for Russia’s use of military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel.
Full article: Merkel Protégé Suggests Naval Blockade of Russian Vessels (TruNews)
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