Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) expressed her shock at the situation at the front in eastern Ukraine.

She came back from her 40-minute stay between soldiers of the Ukrainian army and the Russian-backed separatists in Donbass with "very depressing feelings," the politician said on Tuesday.

The people there would have lost everything from one day to the next.

Protected by a helmet and bulletproof vest, Baerbock had the situation in Donbass explained to him by a commander of the government troops and visited the town of Schyrokyne.

Afterwards she said: "Once a holiday resort, now a testament to the fact that we are at war in the middle of Europe." The situation is "highly dramatic".

There is a "clear agreement" on a ceasefire, but according to reports from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), it is being broken.

According to Baerbock, it must be complied with.

It is important that the OSCE observer mission can do its work on site.

At the same time, progress must be made, especially in the Normandy format, in which Germany and France mediate between Russia and Ukraine.

Once again, Baerbock spoke out in favor of a diplomatic solution to the conflict: "We will not be able to solve this aggression on the Russian side militarily.

That's why I'm doing everything to ensure that we move forward step by step at the negotiating table.” At the same time, she announced that any further aggression would have massive consequences for the Russian side.

An American secret service representative recently informed the FAZ that the Russian armed forces have now gathered around 150,000 soldiers around Ukraine.

More units are on the way.

Russia could have sufficient forces for a "serious invasion" within a month.