Germany’s unwillingness to join other NATO members, like the United States, Britain and the Baltic countries, has raised eyebrows among allies and frustrated the pro-Western government in Kiev.

The new centre-left government of Olaf Scholz has said it is working to defuse the crisis but has ruled out sending lethal weapons, a position that was also taken by Angela Merkel’s former government.

Making a 180-degree turn on this issue should only be done “with full awareness and above all without closing doors that have only just tentatively reopened at this moment,” Baerbock told Bundestag lawmakers on Thursday.

“Whoever talks, doesn’t shoot. It is therefore fatal to simply dismiss the resumption of dialogue,” she said, apparently referring to fresh exchanges between Washington and Moscow, as well as talks by Ukrainian and Russian policy advisors in Paris on Wednesday.

Baerbock said Germany does lend support to Ukraine’s military, singling out Berlin’s announcement on Wednesday that it would send 5,000 combat helmets to the country.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Berlin dismissed the helmets as a “purely symbolic gesture.”