The German chancellor pointed out that the Russian president “will only seriously negotiate peace when he realizes that he cannot break through the Ukrainian defenses”
Olaf Scholz (Reuters)
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, affirmed this Thursday that Europe cannot allow the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to win the war and assured that this will not happen.
“We cannot allow Putin to win the war and I think he will not. Until now, it has not achieved any of its strategic objectives, and one of them, that of occupying all of Ukraine, is further away than ever,” said Scholz, in a speech at the Davos Economic Forum, which today closes its annual meeting.
For the German chancellor, what is at stake since the Russian aggression against Ukraine began is the entire system of international cooperation that was designed after the Second World War.
Putin “has already failed in all his strategic objectives”, the German leader said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Russia’s plan to seize all of Ukraine is “further today than at the beginning” of its invasion on February 24 as Ukraine defended itself impressively.
Putin “underestimated” the allies’ “determination and strength” in countering their aggression in Ukraine, he said Scholz, noting that Moscow has now also pressured Finland and Sweden to join the NATO defense alliance.
“Our objective is very clear: Putin must not win this war. And I am convinced that he will not win it”, said the German chancellor.
Scholz, who has spoken several times with the Russian leader by phone since the invasion of Moscow, he said that “Putin will only seriously negotiate peace when he realizes that he cannot break Ukraine’s defenses”.
Vladimir Putin received Scholz in February and assured him that he would not invade Ukraine
And the Western allies, who have been arming Ukraine and imposing heavy sanctions on Russia, will continue to back kyiv, he promised.
“ This is about making it clear to Putin that there will be no dictated peace,” Scholz said. “Ukraine will not accept that and neither will we”.
However, Scholz did not directly address Ukraine’s criticism that Germany was not acting with quick enough to supply heavy weapons to kyiv.
He limited himself to saying that Germany’s support for kyiv will continue to be coordinated with allies and that it will not allow NATO to become a “party to the conflict.”
Ukraine has been urging Berlin to speed up deliveries of heavy weapons, including Leopard tanks and Marder armored vehicles.
In a separate session in Davos on Wednesday, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, expressed his frustration with the process: “I don’t understand why it is so complicated, but I respect the situation of the German government and we are looking forward to seeing how this story ends”.
kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko also pointed out at the Swiss ski resort’s economic forum that “everything works very slowly” when it comes to weapons decisions.
“We need quick decisions with weapons, because I want to repeat it once again, we not only defend our Our country, our families, our children, we defend each one of you.”
(With information from EFE and AFP)