In Berlin, too, one meeting follows the next crisis that day. The chancellor, the foreign minister and the defense minister all speak up – and yet there are more questions than answers. Politics is in shock.

There is one thing that is not lacking on this day in the government district in Berlin: declarations of solidarity with Ukraine. The Brandenburg Gate glows in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Demonstrators on Pariser Platz are calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the war.

Shortly before 10 a.m., Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock appeared in front of the cameras as the first representative of the Federal Government. She looks concerned and determined. You woke up in a different world. There will now be a package with the most massive sanctions against Russia. According to the Greens politician, the war will also have consequences for Germany.

Almost two hours later, Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke up. He also threatened sanctions. Putin made a serious mistake with his war. Scholz leaves no doubt who he holds responsible for the escalation. It’s a short statement, no questions asked. The chancellor must go on. But he probably still had no answers to many questions.

The time of diplomacy is over

One meeting follows the next in Berlin, one crisis meeting after another: German politics is in a kind of shock. The time of diplomacy, hence one had set for so long, is over. A return to the long negotiating table in the Kremlin? In these hours unthinkable.

But was a nun? The sanctions against Russia are coordinated at European level. They should also hit Germany hard. The sharpest sword is probably Russia’s termination of the Swift international payment system. All Russian financial institutions would then be interrupted from international payment transactions, trade with Russia would no longer be possible. Nothing can be ruled out anymore, says Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner.

How dependent is Germany’s energy supply on Russia? Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck calculated in the afternoon: 55 percent of the gas supply, 50 percent of the coal and 35 percent of the oil come from Russia. There is a strategic reserve for oil, but we now have to upgrade for gas and coal. How exactly, Habeck remains vague.

Green politician Habeck is clear that Germany needs its own liquid gas terminals in order to deliver fracking gas there, for example from the USA. Gas that is forced out of the ground with chemicals under high pressure. A controversial and environmentally damaging process. For the time being, however, Germany’s energy supply is secure, says Habeck. This also applies in the event of a complete stop in Russian gas supplies.

Refugees will come

According to their own statements, the EU and Germany are prepared for anything. But nobody can yet estimate the dimensions of the consequences of the war. Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser joined forces with her colleagues from the federal states. Refugees will come from Ukraine. How many is unclear. Most of them will probably initially find accommodation in neighboring countries such as Poland. There they are open to accepting the Ukrainians. Here, too, the question is how many people Poland will grant refuge to and whether the government in Warsaw will ask for distribution to neighboring European countries. Like all Federal Government press conferences today, the Federal Minister of the Interior leaves more questions than answers.

Debate on arms deliveries

The entire Ukrainian ambassador Andriy Melnyk, on the other hand, positions himself very clearly: This is a Russian war of annihilation and an open declaration of war on the free world. In the past few weeks he had repeatedly demanded arms deliveries from Germany. So also today.

It remains with the no in the responsible ministry, but it no longer sounds quite so convincing. When asked about the operational readiness of the Bundeswehr, Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht assured us: Germany is a reliable partner. You are set up accordingly.

Open doubts and self-criticism, on the other hand, come from former Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer. “I’m so angry with us because we failed historically. After Georgia, Crimea and Donbass, we haven’t prepared anything that would have really deterred Putin,” she wrote on Twitter. Now the EU and Germany could only react.