Germany's defense minister rebuffs Trump's Strait of Hormuz request: 'This is not our war' |
Germany’s defense minister rebuffs Trump’s Strait of Hormuz request: ‘This is not our war’
Germany’s defense minister on Monday rebuffed calls from U.S. President Trump to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, telling reporters “this is not our war.”
Trump has called on allies, including those in NATO, for military support to keep the vital shipping route open. Iran has effectively closed the strait for the past two weeks in response to the U.S.-Israeli war on Tehran, using missiles, drones and mines to attack oil tankers trying to get through.
“What does . . . Donald Trump expect a handful or two handfuls of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful U.S. Navy cannot do?” Boris Pistorius said in Berlin, as reported by Reuters. “This is not our war, we have not started it.”
Trump on Sunday said he is in talks with “about seven” countries on policing the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply flows.
A day earlier on Saturday, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that China, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, South Korea and other countries “affected by this artificial constraint” should send ships to police the strait.
Over the last 24 hours, zero ships have made it through the waterway, down significantly from the typical daily average of 60 ships, according to hormuzstraitmonitor.com.
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump also warned that the NATO alliance faces a “very bad” future if they do not help keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
“It’s only appropriate that people who are the beneficiaries of the strait will help to make sure that nothing bad happens there,” Trump said.
But countries have remained noncommittal, with Germany outright rejecting any calls to help.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in an interview with Germany’s ARD television on Sunday that he was “very skeptical” that sending German ships to the strait would provide greater security.
And government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said the conflict has nothing to do with NATO.
“Neither the United States nor Israel consulted us before the war, and . . . Washington explicitly stated at the outset of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired,” the he said.
Pistorius downplayed Trump’s threat to NATO over the issue, telling reporters he didn’t think it would lead to a breakdown of the alliance.
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