Germany's new Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday (17 December) criticised both Russia and the EU in their tug of war regarding Ukraine. In the meantime, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich obtained massive Russian economic assistance, while the opposition accused him of pawning entire sectors of the country’s economy to Moscow.
Steimeier, a Social Democrat (SPD), has returned to the post of foreign minister he held during Merkel’s first ‘grand coalition’ in 2005-2009.
In his inaugural speech, Steinmeier said it was “utterly scandalous” how Russia used Ukraine's economic plight for its own ends, and in order to prevent the signing of the association agreement (AA) with the EU. “Of course, the violent behaviour of the Ukrainian security forces towards peaceful demonstrators was also scandalous," he added.
