Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has made it clear that Ukraine will win the war against Russia. The Greens politician was asked on Wednesday evening in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz” about Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s more cautious formulation that Russia should not win the war. “I say what the Chancellor says is true,” Baerbock replied. “Of course, Russia must not win this war, but strategically lose it.”

Russia is breaking with international law. “They want to destroy the peace in Ukraine. That’s why Ukraine must not lose under any circumstances – that means: Ukraine must win.”

With regard to the war, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and several ministers repeatedly use the formulation that Russia must not win and Ukraine must not lose. This raised questions as to why they didn’t specifically call for a victory for Ukraine instead. Union faction leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) criticized on Wednesday in the Bundestag that the Chancellor did not simply say: “Ukraine must win this war.”

Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht complained about the discussion about the choice of words. “I believe it’s about supporting Ukraine now in a way that allows it to survive in this fight, and not about single words. I sometimes have the feeling that it’s more about words than deeds,” said the SPD politician on Deutschlandfunk on Thursday.