Germany’s navy chief Kay-Achim Schoenbach stepped down on Saturday after drawing criticism over his comments on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Ukraine crises. 

Schoenbach, during his visit to India, said that Putin deserved respect and that Kyiv would never win back annexed Crimea from Moscow.

“I have asked Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve me from my duties with immediate effect,” vice-admiral Kay-Achim Schoenbach said in a statement, as per Reuters.

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“The minister has accepted my request,” he added.

Speaking at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, Schönbach said, “What he really wants is respect. And, my God, giving someone respect is low cost, even no cost. … It is easy to give him the respect he really demands — and probably also deserves. He further called Russia an old and important country.

He further stressed that Russia’s actions in Ukraine needed to be addressed, but “the Crimea Peninsula is gone. “It will never come back — this is a fact.”

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A Defence Ministry spokesperson in Berlin said Schönbach’s remarks did not reflect Germany’s position in either content or wording.

“Admiral Schoenbach will get the opportunity to express his views to the chief of defence,” the spokesperson said, as per Reuters. 

Schoenbach also apologised for his ‘rash’ comments, calling them a mistake.

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Schoenbach tweeted that his remarks at a thinktank discussion in India expressed a personal opinion and not the official position of the defence ministry.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called on Germany to publicly reject the navy chief’s comments.

“Ukraine is grateful to Germany for the support it has already provided since 2014, as well as for the diplomatic efforts to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian armed conflict. But Germany’s current statements are disappointing and run counter to that support and effort,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said separately in tweet.