On Thursday morning, our colleagues from RTL spoke to the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs about the developing situation in Ukraine.

With the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Putin "discarded any restraint" and destroyed the lives of millions of people, explained Minister Asselborn. Thousands are now at risk of dying, he further said.

While Putin alleges that he wants to demilitarise Ukraine, his true intentions are more than clear, the LSAP politician noted. The Russian President wants to enforce his world order and thus "terrorises" the West. The values of this new world order, emphasised Asselborn, no longer have anything to do with the rule of law or the values practiced by the United Nations.

Minister Asselborn concluded that President Putin has "either gone mad or stepped into the shoes of a dictator who spurns world peace and has lost every ounce of respect for humankind."

According to the Russian President, the invasion of eastern Ukraine is a "peace mission in the Donbas region". "Nonsense", says Minister Asselborn, not only the Donbas region but all of Ukraine is being targeted. Missiles have already landed in several cities, he further noted.

The "only hope" that foreign ministers and many other people have at the moment is that the Russian President may still be stopped by his own people. Minister Asselborn explained that there is no large consensus on invasion in Russia.

The Foreign Minister also drew attention to the fact that President Putin has already threatened nuclear options should anyone intervene, stating that the world would experience a never-before seen reaction.

People are further scared by the way that military actions are coordinated in Belarus, which is a neighbouring state of Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. "This represents the outer border of the European Union", said Asselborn.

When asked about the EU's capabilities of counteracting Russia, the politician explained: "Today or tomorrow, the packet of sanctions that we presented earlier on will be reinforced." The G7 council is set to still convene today to assess the situation.

In case of an attack on a NATO member, the situation would drastically change: "According to article five, an attack on one member is an attack on every member." Nevertheless, Minister Asselborn expressed his hopes that it does not come to that. Right now, the important thing is to think about the 40 million people living in Ukraine, the politician emphasised.