Is military aid to Ukraine crumbling after two years of Russian war of aggression? The danger exists. Scholz counters this when his most important ally visits – and addresses Moscow.
During his visit to Washington, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) promised continued military aid to Ukraine and sent a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is counting on a decrease in support from Western allies for Ukraine, he said before his conversation with US President Joe Biden. “If we make it clear that this is a miscalculation, then that is the best contribution to peaceful development.” The war could end at any time, but not with Ukraine capitulating.
The Chancellor also attacked Putin for his interview with the right-wing US talk show host Tucker Carlson. In the 127 minutes, the Russian president “honestly just mocked the real actions taken by Russia in Ukraine and told a completely absurd story about the cause of this war.” Putin wants to annex part of Ukraine. “And all the stories that are told about it do not change the fact that this is exactly the purpose of his imperialist efforts.”
Putin’s first interview with a Western journalist since the war of aggression against Ukraine began almost two years ago was published during the Chancellor’s stay in Washington. Putin said that the West was slowly having to realize that the conflict could not be won militarily. Sooner or later this will lead to an agreement. “Once this realization has set in, they (the West) need to think about what to do next.”
Meeting of Ukraine’s main arms suppliers
The USA and Germany are by far Ukraine’s most important arms suppliers. Scholz estimates the value of the military equipment delivered and promised by Germany at more than 30 billion euros. The USA states the extent of its military aid at 44 billion US dollars (around 41 billion euros).
Both Scholz and Biden are currently struggling in different ways to maintain aid. At the beginning of the year, the Chancellor launched an initiative to encourage EU partners – especially economically strong ones such as France, Spain and Italy – to provide more support for the Ukrainian armed forces. The success so far has been moderate.
Biden has been trying for months to get new billions in aid for Kiev through Congress. Former President Donald Trump’s Republicans are blocking this, but have recently signaled some willingness, at least in the Senate.
Scholz sees a “good sign” for further US aid
After arriving in Washington on Thursday evening, Scholz dined with eight senators from Congress, including four Republicans. The German delegation then said that the discussion partners were “hopeful” that the USA would provide financial support.
Scholz was confident that the US Congress would release further funds to equip the Ukrainian armed forces. He was “very happy” that “there is now a good sign.” The day before, a new legislative package that, among other things, provides $60 billion (56 billion euros) for Ukraine cleared its first formal hurdle in the Senate. Negotiations are still ongoing and a final vote in the Senate is pending. Whether the package will pass there and, above all, have a chance in the other chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives, is still completely open.
Biden is now struggling with completely different problems
60 minutes were scheduled for the Chancellor’s private conversation with Biden in the Oval Office on Friday. In addition to aid for Ukraine, the focus should be on the Middle East conflict and the NATO anniversary summit in July.
The US President is currently struggling with completely different problems. Shortly before the Chancellor’s arrival, a document affair caught up with the Democrat: It is about the fact that he privately kept confidential government documents from his time as US Vice President – which is not allowed. The special investigator appointed to investigate the allegations did not recommend any legal consequences for the 81-year-old in his final report. But he described the most powerful man in the world as a doddering senior citizen with major memory problems, which is extremely inconvenient for Biden in an election year.
Series of slips of the tongue: Merkel confused with Kohl
In addition, Biden has again attracted attention with embarrassing slips of the tongue in the past few days. Just one day before the Chancellor’s visit, he confused his predecessor Angela Merkel with the deceased former Chancellor Helmut Kohl (both CDU) when he told an anecdote from the G7 summit in 2021 in New York. At a spontaneously called press conference on the special investigator’s report on Thursday evening, Biden made another slip of the tongue: When commenting on the Middle East crisis, he accidentally made Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the head of state of Mexico.
No joint press conference by Scholz and Biden
There is no press conference scheduled for Scholz. The German side gave time reasons as an explanation for this. For at least a few minutes at the beginning of their conversation, the two wanted to present themselves to the public together in the Oval Office.
It is questionable whether Scholz’s trip to the USA can really make a difference. The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth (SPD), said in the ZDF “Morgenmagazin”: “The Chancellor is certainly a master of argumentative pressure.” But he doesn’t know whether it makes a difference in the debate, which is heavily influenced by ideology and not by good arguments. “It’s worth a try.”