GENEVA

The German defense minister on Thursday criticized US President Donald Trump’s approach to possible peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

“It is unfortunate that the Trump administration has already publicly made concessions to Putin before negotiations have even begun,” Boris Pistorius said on the sidelines of the NATO Council in Brussels.

"In my view, it would have been better to discuss Ukraine's possible NATO membership or possible territorial losses for the country only at the negotiating table and not take it off the table beforehand,” he added.

On Wednesday, Trump announced on his social media platform Truth Social that he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said the two leaders agreed to begin peace negotiations as soon as possible.

The German defense minister demanded that Europe be involved in possible peace negotiations "since Europe would have to live with the consequences of a possible agreement."

He also criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying, "Putin is constantly provoking the West and attacking us in a hybrid manner. It would be naive to believe that this threat will actually subside through a peace agreement whenever it comes."

Pistorius added that he would have liked peace negotiations to take place sooner. "Apparently, there were reasons on Putin's side not to be ready to talk about such a peace sooner,” he said. 

Pan-European proposal  

On the topic of increasing defense investment, Pistorius said peace can only be secured from “a position of strength.”

In this context, the German defense minister put forward a pan-European proposal.

"We in Europe should consider whether we should adopt the Maastricht criteria when it comes to defense spending,” he said.

The Maastricht criteria refer to the benchmarks EU member states must meet to enter the third stage of the bloc’s union and adopt the euro.  

Baerbock: Europeans should not be left out

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also commented on possible peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine on Thursday.

"We cannot have talks without involving Ukraine. Peace in Europe is at stake, so we Europeans must be included," Baerbock said in an interview with public radio station Deutschlandfunk.

The top German diplomat added that she had not been informed in advance about the phone call between the American and Russian leaders.

"That's how the Trump administration operates. That's why there needs to be constant mutual communication with the various actors,” she said. “Others don't do foreign policy like that, but that's now a reality.”