In the midst of his re-election campaign, Olaf Scholz announces new aid of 650 million euros to kyiv during a surprise visit to Ukraine this Monday. “Germany will remain Ukraine’s main support in Europe”assured the German Chancellor. He arrived this morning to show his support for the country which is fighting the Russian invasion, a government spokesperson told AFP.
“Ukraine can count on us. We say what we do. And we do what we say”wrote the chancellor on X.
“For more than 1,000 days, Ukraine has heroically defended itself against the ruthless Russian war of aggression”he underlined in a statement sent by a spokesperson to AFP. His visit aims to ” express “ on “solidarity” with kyiv, which littlet “count” on Berlin, he said again. His last visit dates back to June 2022, notably in the company of French President Emmanuel Macron, a few months after the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
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A budget cut in half in 2025
As a reminder, Germany has halved its bilateral military aid to Ukraine in its 2025 draft budget. Olaf Scholz's government, which is seeking to make savings, does not plan to “no additional aid” to the 4 billion euros planned in next year's budget to help Ukraine militarily, a parliamentary source told AFP in August. This year, aid from Berlin, the second contributor after the United States, amounts to 8 billion euros.
To compensate, Germany is counting on “the creation, within the framework of the G7 and the European Union, of a financial instrument using frozen Russian assets”added a source within the Ministry of Finance.
kyiv is outraged by Scholz and Putin's exchange on Ukraine
The Chancellor of Peace
In view of the legislative elections on February 23, Olaf Scholz positions himself as the chancellor of peace and supporter of restraint. Objective, to avoid an escalation between the West and Russia. On Saturday, during a speech marking his entry into the campaign, the social democratic candidate promised to keep “cool head” on the subject of the war between Russia and Ukraine, denouncing the hawkish overtones of his conservative opponent Friedrich Merz, a supporter of increased aid to Ukraine.
Friedrich Merz is in favor under certain conditions of a delivery of German Taurus missiles to kyiv, making it possible to strike deep into Russian territory. A red line for Olaf Scholz, who opposes his American, French and British allies on this point, in a pacifist country crossed by a current of pro-Russian opinion.
On Sunday, Volodymyr Zelensky assured that his country needed more weapons and security guarantees from NATO before possible negotiations with Russia. Tensions are at their highest between Moscow and the West after strikes by Ukraine of American and British missiles on Russian soil and the firing by Russia of an experimental hypersonic missile and nuclear threats. And calls to begin negotiations with Moscow are becoming more pressing.
(With AFP)
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