(6 Dec 2021) The spokesman for outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin on Monday that there is a "lack of transparency" and an "increasingly aggressive Russian rhetoric".
Steffen Seibert made the remarks as tensions soar over a Russian troop buildup near the Ukrainian border, adding that Russia had the right to employ their forces on their own territory, while calling for transparency.
Ukrainian and Western officials are worried that the Russian military concentration could herald plans by the Kremlin to attack its neighbor, a concern that is expected to dominate a call Tuesday between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden.
Moscow has denied hatching plans to attack Ukraine and rejected the Western concerns as part of efforts to smear Russia.
During Monday's briefing, a spokeswoman for Germany's foreign ministry sharply criticized Iran for pushing forward its nuclear program while Germany and other world powers at the same time are trying to reach a diplomatic solution in negotiations in Vienna.
Andrea Sasse accused Iran of "breaking with almost all of the difficult compromises that were previously agreed upon during several months of hard negotiations".
Sasse urged the Iranian delegation to return to Vienna after consultations in Tehran with realistic proposals that can move forward on the basis of what had been achieved in the talks up to June.
At the end of the news briefing - Seibert's last as spokesman for outgoing chancellor Angela Merkel - he was presented with a knife sharpener.
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