Ladies and gentlemen, if Russia continues on its course of the past weeks, it will not only be a catastrophe for Ukraine… We, also as neighbors of Russia, would not only see it as a threat. And it would not only change the European Union’s relationship with Russia. No, this would also cause massive damage to Russia, economically and politically.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, appearing before the Deutscher Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, to denounce Russia’s troop buildup on the border with Ukraine. The Russian Federation has continued to escalate the crisis in the face of sharp criticism from the United States and Europe.