'Russia is destroying itself,' says German foreign minister

GENEVA

Russia is destroying itself with its war on Ukraine, according to the German foreign minister.

"With this brutal war of aggression, Russia, Putin, is destroying its own country," Annalena Baerbock told reporters during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.

The weekend's developments in Russia were about a "domestic power struggle in Russia" and Germany and the EU "did not want to interfere," Baerbock said.

The whole thing was "just one act in this Russian spectacle," she added.

According to Baerbock, Europe's "sole concern is to help Ukraine live in peace and freedom again."

At the meeting in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers decided to increase funding for the supply of weapons and equipment to Ukraine and other partner countries by another €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion).

According to an EU spokeswoman, this is a clear political signal of the bloc’s continued commitment to military assistance to Ukraine and other partners.

Specifically, Monday's decision raised the financial ceiling for the so-called European Peace Facility to about €12 billion.

This EU financial instrument had been created before the start of the Ukraine war to provide military support to partner countries and was originally only allocated around €5 billion for the period 2021-2027.

However, due to the Russian war on Ukraine, these funds are nowhere near sufficient. So far, around €5.6 billion has been released for aid to the Ukrainian armed forces alone.

In addition to Ukraine, countries such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, Lebanon and Mauritania benefit from the money.