German navy chief resigns after contreversial Russia comments

Baku, January 23, AZERTAC

Germany’s navy chief resigned Saturday after making controversial comments about Russia that sparked a diplomatic row between Berlin and Kyiv.

The Defense Ministry informed parliament’s defense committee that Vice Admiral Kai-Achim Schoenbach’s resignation was accepted, German news agency DPA reported.

The navy chief came under fire for remarks made during a think-tank meeting in India where he said: “The Crimean Peninsula is gone, it will never come back, this is a fact,”

Ukraine summoned the German ambassador and asked Berlin to publicly refute the comments.

Earlier Saturday, the German Defense Ministry distanced itself from the navy chief’s comments and said in a statement that the remarks do not in any way correspond to the position of the ministry.