German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has defended an agreement with Washington on the stationing of long-range US missiles in Germany, citing the threat posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “Making foreign policy today means recognizing: The principle of hope will not protect us from Putin’s Russia,” wrote Baerbock in an opinion piece for the Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag. “What protects us now is investments in our own security and strength – in the EU, in NATO and in Germany. And this includes the decision to deploy long-range American weapons systems,” she wrote. She said the weap…