German navy chief resigns after his remarks in New Delhi on Putin, Ukraine

The head of Germany's navy, Kay-Achim Schoenbach, has resigned following his controversial remarks on the crisis in Ukraine, a defence ministry spokesman said on Saturday.

Schoenbach said the idea that Russia wanted to invade Ukraine was "nonsense", adding that Putin deserved respect, in comments at a think-tank meeting in New Delhi on Friday.

The vice-admiral would leave his post "with immediate effect" the spokesman told AFP.

In a video filmed at the New Delhi meeting, Schoenbach said that what Putin wanted was "to be respected". "It's easy to give him the respect he wants, and probably deserves as well," he said.

He also said that the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, was gone and would not come back to Ukraine.