"Everybody happy that conflict has come to halt": German envoy to India Philipp Ackermann optimistic on Iran-US peace negotiations
By Sahil Pandey
New Delhi [India], June 26 (ANI): German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann on Thursday (local time) said that he is hopeful that the ongoing 60-day negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme will succeed following the recent halt of the conflict, while he also expressed pessimism about the prospects for an early end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict due to Russia’s ‘unreadiness’ to engage in talks.
Speaking to ANI, Ackermann said the pause in the Iran conflict has brought relief globally, particularly by stabilising oil supplies and prices. He said, ‘Generally speaking, I think everybody is very happy that the war has or the conflict has come to an end, a halt at least. What we see is that the oil transport is flowing again. You feel it here; oil prices have gone down.’
He added, ‘It is interesting to say that this conflict had an impact on all of us, on India, on Southeast Asia, but also on Europe, even though we don’t get so much oil from the Persian or Arabic Gulf. The oil prices go up everywhere. So for us, it was a big blow, and therefore, I think everybody is happy that we have come to an end of this conflict.’
Referring to ongoing diplomatic efforts, Ackermann added, ‘Now negotiations are going on, and we of course want to see what happens with the nuclear capabilities and capacities of Iran. Therefore, I’m very hopeful that these negotiations will lead to success after sixty days.’
On the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ackermann said the nature of the conflict has changed, with Ukraine increasingly using new technologies to strike targets deep inside Russia.
He said, ‘You might have followed it in the last couple of weeks and months. We have seen a shift in the way of leading this war. The Ukrainians have been extremely aggressive in a way that they have with their new technologies, really having an impact inside Russia all of a sudden. Even very far away from Ukraine, they can destroy refineries or at least damage them and also infrastructure. I think that is a new development, a new phenomenon that makes a lot of problems for Russia.’
At the same time, he said Russia has not made significant advances on the battlefield, he said, ‘But at the same time, Russia, I think, is not really advancing in Ukraine. So both sides sit in the trenches; there are only small gains of territory, if at all. So I think we are in a difficult situation. But frankly, and I want to be very honest with you, I don’t see any readiness by the Russian side to engage in discussion.’
Ackermann said that he does not believe Russia is prepared to negotiate an end to the conflict. He said, ‘But frankly, and I want to be very honest with you, I don’t see any readiness by the Russian side to engage in discussion. That is very frustrating. So I don’t see this conflict ending soon.’
He reaffirmed Europe’s commitment to Ukraine, saying, ‘ But you should know that Europe, and we have shown that also in the conference in Gdansk in Poland yesterday, Europe is standing firmly with Ukraine and will also support Ukraine. The conflict will last, but the support of Europe will not fade.’ (ANI)
