WASHINGTON, October 9 (RIA Novosti) - As US officials at the Pentagon discuss providing lethal aid to Ukrainian government forces, Germany has decided not to support a military solution to the civil war, Volker Perthes, the head of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs and adviser to the German government, told RIA Novosti Thursday.
“Germany has decided not to do it,” Perthes told RIA Novosti responding to the question of whether Berlin would follow the course of Washington in possibly providing arms to Ukrainian government forces in the future.
Perthes noted that Germany has “encouraged Poroshenko to go for a ceasefire” because of the strong belief that a military solution is not workable.
According to statements made by Pentagon official Derek Chollet on Wednesday, the United States may eventually pursue a program to provide lethal assistance to Kiev. Lethal aid was one of the primary requests made by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko during his recent visit to Washington, DC.
Ukraine’s internal conflict has claimed over 3,600 lives in the past six months. According to a Tuesday report by the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, the conflict is still taking ten lives every day, despite the ceasefire signed in early September.
Germany has played an active role in the ceasefire talks, as well providing humanitarian aid and troops earlier this week to provide relief and monitor the ceasefire.
