German ambassador to Russia says Kremlin holds the ‘key to peace’
The German ambassador to Russia, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war on Ukraine in a speech on Friday in Moscow.
“The war in Ukraine must stop,” he said in a speech to mark German Unity Day, addressing some 1,000 guests in the Russian capital.
“It is up to President Putin to enable such a peaceful solution. The key to peace lies in the Kremlin.”
In his speech, which he partly delivered in Russian, he expressed gratitude for the contribution that “courageous Soviet and Russian politicians” made to overcoming the division of Germany and Europe.
People who advocate for connections between Germany and Russia are still urgently needed and should not be discouraged, he said. Reunification showed, “Even seemingly solid concrete can break.”
He was referring to the fall of the Wall and reunification of Germany as the country marks October 3, 1990 when the states that made up East Germany were integrated into the Federal Republic of Germany – the formal name for West Germany – ending the division after World War II. The date is a national holiday known as German Unity Day.
