BERLIN — Europe’s most powerful nation, Germany, was probably not expecting its latest gesture of solidarity toward Ukraine — menaced by some 100,000 Russian troops massed near its borders — to become something of a bitter punchline.
But that was more or less what transpired after Germany’s defense minister, Christine Lambrecht, announced Wednesday that the government in Berlin, which has ruled out arms exports to Ukraine, would be sending along 5,000 helmets.
In response, the mayor of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv — a former world heavyweight boxing champion who lived for years in Germany and is well-known in the country — declared himself “speechless.”
