Status: 06.02.2022 5:26 p.m
Chancellor Scholz has in an interview with the ARD Capital Studio reiterates that Germany will not supply arms to Ukraine. There is a clear strategy with all allies on the Ukraine issue, said Scholz before his trip to the USA.
On the issue of arms deliveries to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that the federal government has had a clear course for years “that we will not deliver to crisis areas and that we will not deliver lethal weapons to Ukraine.” In an interview with the ARD Capital Studio he said that the majority of Germans shared his opinion on the issue.
“The federal government is not supplying any lethal weapons to Ukraine,” said Chancellor Scholz
Report from Berlin, February 6, 2022
Scholz said of the Ukraine crisis as a whole: “We have had a clear strategy together with our allies for a long time.” Discussions will continue on how to make it clear “that military aggression against Ukraine would have high costs for Russia.” Very precise agreements have been prepared “with the USA, the EU and everyone who is concerned,” said Scholz.
Bilateral talks and in the Normandy format
The second part of the strategy is to ensure that people speak again. “It worked with the bilateral talks that the USA and Russia are conducting, the NATO-Russia Council that is finally meeting again, with the OSCE and with what the French President and I are pushing so hard: the Normandy format, in which Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany are trying to resolve the deadlocked situation,” said Scholz.
“A military intervention by Russia would have a high price,” said Chancellor Scholz
Report from Berlin, February 6, 2022
When the Union criticized that the trip was coming too late, Scholz said: “The trip comes at exactly the right time.” The trip was also well prepared. “You don’t just go there to have a coffee, it’s about making real, hard, important politics, which in this case is taking place in a very crisis situation.” It is about preventing a war in Europe, said Scholz.
“Nothing excluded with sanctions”
Regarding possible sanctions against Russia, including the possible suspension of the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, Scholz said again that very far-reaching sanctions are under discussion “if that becomes necessary”. But it is about preventing sanctions. “We have looked at all the measures and there is nothing that is excluded.”
One of the strengths of the Western response is that it acts in a completely unified manner and has agreed to make decisions together. “It’s about agreed policies among allies in NATO, with our friends in the US in the European Union.”
Visits to Washington, Kiev and Moscow
Scholz is now traveling to Washington for his inaugural visit, and the meeting with US President Joe Biden is scheduled for Monday. A week later, Scholz wants to travel to Kiev and then to Moscow. Before that, a meeting with the heads of state and government of the Baltic States is planned in Berlin. In addition, French President Emmanuel Macron and the Polish head of state Andrzej Duda will come to Berlin for talks. The Ukraine crisis will be the dominant theme at all meetings.