Baerbock in Kiev: We stand with Ukraine

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Ukraine on Monday for the second time in just three weeks amid fears of a Russian invasion.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly expressed frustration at Germany’s refusal to sell weapons to Ukraine — as well as blocking other countries from doing the same.

Baerbock gave a press conference after meeting her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. At the conference, Germany’s top diplomat said Berlin is willing to “pay a high economic price” should sanctions be required against Russia. Germany and its partners had prepared “a series of tough measures” against Moscow to be used if the Ukraine conflict escalates.

“The security of Ukraine is at stake,” Baerbock said.

Her comments come after Economy Minister Robert Habeck called for Germany to reduce its dependence on Russian natural gas as tensions remain over the Ukraine standoff. The German government remains divided on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline which is meant to transport Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany. Although the construction of the pipeline has been completed, it has not started transporting gas and the project is currently on hold.