Chancellor Scholz spoke on the US broadcaster CNN on Ukraine policy. A negotiated solution depends entirely on Putin, who must withdraw his troops. The Finnish army chief Kivinen emphasized that Finland must join NATO. The developments in the live blog.
2:11 a.m
Scholz: Putin has to withdraw troops
Chancellor Scholz stressed on US television that a negotiated solution would depend entirely on Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin must understand that he will not be successful with his invasion of Ukraine and must withdraw his troops, Scholz said in an interview broadcast by CNN on Sunday after his meeting with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday.
In the event of Chinese arms deliveries to Russia, Scholz threatened consequences. But he was relatively optimistic that Beijing would refrain from doing so, said Scholz. When asked by CNN whether he could imagine sanctions against Beijing if it provided Moscow with arms assistance, Scholz replied: “I think there would be consequences, but we are now at a stage where we are making it clear that this should not happen and I am relatively optimistic that in that case we will be successful in our request, but we have to look at (it) and we have to be very, very careful. ” US officials recently said China could abandon its neutral stance on Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and start supplying Moscow with ammunition and weapons.
2:05 a.m
Finland’s army chief: Moscow only understands “hard power”
In view of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Finland’s army chief Timo Kivinen sees a need for his neutral country to join NATO. “We don’t want to threaten anyone,” the general told ZDF’s “heute journal”, but with NATO there is more potential for deterrence. “Russia obviously only understands hard power.” Finland shares a 1300 km border with Russia. Like Sweden, Finland also wants to become a member of NATO after decades of rejection because of the Ukraine war. The final decision on admission is still pending. “In our history we have had several wars with Russia, the Soviet Union. We all know here: our neighbor is a strong power. And we have to be ready to defend our country,” Kivinen continued. “In the 1990s we too had a discussion about whether we should dismantle our national defenses like most countries in Europe, but we were smart enough not to do that and it’s paying off now.”
2:03 a.m
Sunday’s live blog to read
Defense Minister Pistorius travels to Lithuania for military-political talks and meets Bundeswehr soldiers stationed there. Heavy fighting continues to rage around Bakhmut. The developments from Sunday to read.