Germany is still ‘occupied’ by America, President Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Germany’s response to the Nord Stream pipeline explosion showed the country was still “under occupation” and unable to act independently decades after surrendering at the end of World War II. .

Western countries, Germany, have expressed a cautious response to the investigation of last year’s explosions in Russia’s North Stream gas pipelines. Those countries say the explosion was deliberate but refrained from saying who they believe was responsible.

Russian news agencies quoted Putin as saying, “The point is that European politicians themselves have been saying publicly since World War II that Germany has never been a fully independent state.”

In an interview with Russia’s Russia1 TV channel, Vladimir Putin said, “The Soviet Union at one point withdrew its forces and the occupation of the country ended in a way. But it is well known that the Americans They did not. They still occupy Germany today.”

Putin said the explosions at the Nord Stream pipeline were carried out at the “state level” and that it was “absolute nonsense” that a pro-Ukraine autonomous group was responsible. The delivery of Russian gas to Europe through the Nord Stream One pipeline has been fully restored.

The proposed pipelines were supposed to bring Russian gas to Germany, but since Moscow’s military invasion of Ukraine a year ago, Berlin has taken steps to reduce its dependence on Russian gas and petroleum products. German leaders reacted cautiously to pipeline explosions. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said last week that the blasts may have been carried out “in a false act to blame Ukraine”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his military commanders wanted to inflict “as much damage as possible” on Russia. After discussing the situation in Bakhmut with his military commanders, he said that the military commanders are fully committed to defend the eastern sector including Bakhmut.

“All military commanders had a very clear position that this sector would be fully defended and the occupying forces would be inflicted as much damage as possible,” he said in his video message.

There has been intense fighting in Bakhmut for the past several months. Russia wants to occupy this area of ​​Donetsk province of Ukraine. While the capture will make it easier for the Russian army to advance on the cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk, defense experts say it will not have much strategic benefit.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier this month, “I think it has little strategic and operational importance, only symbolic importance.”