German Navy Chief Vice Admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach tendered his resignation on Saturday night after an unprecedented controversy in Germany and a diplomatic incident with Ukraine related to the comments, he made in New Delhi that Ukraine can never reclaim Crimea and Russian President Vladimir Putin deserved respect.

Vice Admiral Schoenbach said in a statement that he has asked Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht to relieve him of his duties with immediate effect. "The minister has accepted my request," Schoenbach said.

In addition to apologizing, Vice Adm Schoenbach said, "My rash remarks in India are increasingly straining my office. I consider this step (the resignation) necessary to avert further damage to the Federal Republic of Germany, the German forces, and the German navy."

During his visit to India, the German Navy Chief spoke at an interactive session at the MP-IDSA to say that Russia has annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and it will never be returned. In addition, he asked if Russia really wanted to attack Ukraine.

"Does Russia really want to integrate a small and tiny piece of Ukraine into their country? That's absurd. There is a good chance that Putin is exerting pressure since he has the power to do so and splits EU opinion. What he really wants is respect," he added.

Further, he said: "He (Putin) wants high-level respect, and to my God, some respect costs very little, even nothing. To me, it would be easy to give him the respect he so rightly demands and almost certainly deserves. As a country, Russia is old and important. Even India and Germany rely on Russia for their survival. Russia is our only option against China."

According to him, "I am a very radical Roman Catholic. I believe in God and I believe in Christianity and there is a Christian country even if Putin is an atheist, it doesn't matter. Having this big country on our side is great."

On Saturday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that it summoned German Ambassador Anka Feldhusen in Kiev to express its "categorical disagreement" with his remarks.

In Berlin, the Ministry of Defence distanced itself from the Navy chief's remarks, saying he did not agree with the [German government's] position concerning the content and choice of words. He also had the chance to address the German military's Inspector General, Germany's Bild newspaper reported.

In the wake of Schoenbach's comments, new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is trying to play a key role in reducing tensions related to the Russian buildup of forces on Ukraine's border as well as the decision by the U.S. and some NATO allies to increase arms and ammunition supplies to ensure the Ukrainian army's readiness.

Image source: the wire