In his address to the Bundestag lower house of the German Parliament, Chancellor Olaf Scholz criticized the public competition among some countries over who can deliver more and better weapons to Ukraine, saying it harmed unity among allies, Reuters reported.
Addressing Russia’s war in Ukraine, Scholz described it as a “man-made” disaster, which has sparked the “biggest migration movement since World War II,” according to DW.
“From the first day of the war, our strongest characteristic lies in our cohesion. We will simply not allow a country to invade another and disrupt peace in Europe,” Schold said, adding that the EU sanctions “will continue” against Russia, “and may even be enhanced.”
“We preserve and strengthen this cohesion by first preparing decisions confidentially – and only then communicating them,” Scholz said, citing his cooperation with US President Joe Biden on the decision to supply tanks to Ukraine. “What harms our unity is a public competition to outdo each other along the lines of: battle tanks, submarines, aircraft – who is asking for more?” he added, according to Reuters.
Ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, Scholz assured Ukraine that its future lies in the EU:
“Ukraine belongs to Europe, its future lies in the European Union. And this promise holds true,” he said.
The German Chancellor also denied Russia’s defense ministry’s claim that Western arms supplies to Ukraine were effectively dragging NATO into the conflict:
“It is not NATO in war against Russia. It is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Scholz said. “Putin will not achieve his goals. This is clear after one year of this war.”
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