'War in the middle of Europe': German foreign minister visits frontline in eastern Ukraine

By Alexander Ratz

MARIUPOL, Ukraine (Reuters) - Visibly shaken, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stood in front of the ruins of a house near the frontline of the conflict in eastern Ukraine on Tuesday.

"It leaves me with a very heavy feeling that here, right by the beach, which should be one of the prettiest places to be in the country, you can actually feel what happened here years ago," she said at a former resort near the port of Mariupol.

"From one day to the next people lost everything they had, children's toys are still lying by the side of the road, houses are destroyed. And what used to be a holiday destination is the now the visible proof that we have a war in the middle of Europe."

Baerbock flew to eastern Ukraine after holding talks with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on Monday as part of diplomatic efforts to defuse Kyiv's standoff with Moscow.

Ukraine has encouraged such trips to bring home to its allies the realities of the conflict it is fighting against Russian-backed forces in the eastern Donbass region, which Kyiv says has killed 15,000 people.

Russia has massed more than 100,000 troops near Ukraine's borders in what NATO member states say could be preparation for a new attack on Ukraine. Moscow denies such plans but has demanded security guarantees from the West, including a block on Ukraine joining the NATO alliance.

(Editing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Jon Boyle)