“Putin is playing a game, and I am certain that the American president will not be able to watch for long without reacting,” said Boris Pistorius.
BERLIN — German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius lambasted United States President Donald Trump’s highly touted partial ceasefire in Ukraine.
“After this supposedly groundbreaking, great phone call, the Russian attacks have not decreased,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, taking a jab at Trump and dismissing the deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “zero.”
Trump had lauded his conversation with Putin as “very good and productive,” and a White House readout of the discussion declared it the beginning of an “energy and infrastructure ceasefire.”
However, within hours of the call, Russian forces launched a new round of airstrikes on Kyiv and other regions.
Pistorius argued that Putin’s aim was to further weaken Ukraine and allow Russian troops to rearm and amass along the front lines. “Putin is playing a game, and I am certain that the American president will not be able to watch for long without reacting,” he said.
Pistorius is a key politician in Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) and is set to play a major role in the next coalition government led by Friedrich Merz’s conservatives, who won the German election on Feb. 23.
In comments yesterday evening before the latest round of Russian bombardments, the outgoing SPD chancellor, Olaf Scholz, sounded much more approving of the partial ceasefire deal.
“The ceasefire now announced for attacks on the energy infrastructure can be an important first step along the way,” Scholz said standing alongside French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin. “The same applies to the start of technical negotiations for a ceasefire at sea,” Scholz added.
European leaders have been frustrated by their exclusion from negotiations to end the war, with Pistorius stressing that any lasting peace “must be secured on European terms.”
Trump has raised fears across Europe that Washington may push for a settlement at Kyiv’s expense.