The chairman of the Munich Security Conference and former foreign policy adviser to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Christoph Heusgen, has acknowledged mistakes in Russia policy during his tenure. Although gas never flowed through the “Nord Stream 2” pipeline, “but if you ask me – yes, in hindsight that was a mistake,” Heusgen told the “Welt am Sonntag”.
Heusgen explained that the German government decided in favor of the German-Russian pipeline project in 2015 because they wanted to phase out nuclear energy quickly after the reactor accident in Fukushima, Japan, and Russian gas was the quickest and cheapest solution. “The SPD and the economy” were “very much in favor”.
For tank delivery
“Nord Stream 2” was built to transport gas from Russia to Germany. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the federal government decided not to put the pipeline into operation.
Heusgen demanded the delivery of German Leopard main battle tanks to Ukraine. Germany has “a moral obligation to support this country,” he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on “the US and Europe’s economic and military support for Ukraine decreasing,” Heusgen warned. Despite requests from Kyiv, Berlin has so far refused to hand over modern Leopard and Marder tanks to Ukraine.
