Germany says Russia will face ‘massive consequences’ if it invades Ukraine

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Tuesday Russia will face “massive consequences” if it invades Ukraine, after a phone call with her Russian counterpart in which she said Kyiv’s territory integrity must not be violated, Reuters reports.

Baerbock called for “open and honest” dialogue with Russia over the Ukraine crisis during her exchange with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the German Foreign Ministry said.

“We want honest and open dialogue,” Baerbock’s ministry wrote on Twitter after the call. “The territorial integrity of Ukraine must not be violated.”

Baerbock also add: “Any form of intervention in the sovereignty of Ukraine would have massive consequences for the Russian regime – of an economic and diplomatic nature.”

Lavrov repeated that demand in his exchange with Baerbock, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“In discussing current topics on the international agenda, the Russian side focused on the need to provide our country with security guarantees in the form of legal commitments not to expand NATO eastwards and not to move the bloc’s military infrastructure to Russia’s borders,” the statement said.

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