Germany reacts to Ukraine’s offensive statement

RT reported, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told t-online news agency on May 15 that it was not necessary to be “sensitive” to every word of Ukrainian officials, but insisted he still had no plans to visit Kiev.

It is more important to “focus on the essential issues”, Scholz added, explaining that Berlin was still looking for ways to help Kiev “defend” and get Russia to “withdraw its troops from Ukraine”.

Prime Minister Scholz said he was “very happy” when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier agreed to clear old entanglements. The two leaders spoke in early May after Kiev did not welcome Steinmeier’s April visit to Ukraine because of his alleged connections to the Kremlin.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin, Andrey Melnik, also harshly criticized Prime Minister Scholz for his reluctance to visit Kiev. In early May, the Ukrainian diplomat said that the German chancellor was not a “politician” and later refused to apologize, pointing out that the matter had been clarified by the two presidents and that it was not “about whether anyone whether it feels insulted or not.”

On May 15, Prime Minister Olaf Scholz confirmed that there are still no plans to visit Ukraine in the near future. “A person with political responsibility should come to Kiev only if there are specific issues that need to be discussed on the spot,” he said.

The German Chancellor’s comments come in the context of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. Western nations, including Germany, are providing Kiev with military and financial aid, as well as imposing an unprecedented number of rounds of sanctions against Russia.

Chancellor Scholz said that Germany and its partners will continue to impose more sanctions on Russia. The goal of these policies is to get Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.

According to Scholz, sanctions can be lifted if Russia and Ukraine reach an agreement. The details of any such agreement should be discussed between Russia and Ukraine, but cannot be “imposed by force”.

Scholz also said he had a “frank talk” with Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone on May 13, but provided few details about the call.

The German leader believes that sanctions “are having a very significant impact” on the Russian economy, the economy will be “massively affected” and development opportunities “severely limited”. .

Meanwhile, some Western media, including the British weekly The Economist, as well as the US financial giant, JP Morgan, have said that the Russian economy appears to be defying the immediate impact. era of sanctions and has proven to be stronger than expected.

Scholz stated that Russia has not achieved any of its goals in Ukraine, pointing to the fact that NATO has not withdrawn its troops from its eastern flank, but has built up its forces there. Mr. Scholz said, NATO “will be even stronger when Finland and Sweden accede”. Helsinki and Stockholm announced their intention to apply to join NATO on May 15, but the move is still awaiting parliamentary approval.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Scholz said Germany and its partners would never “take any decision that could lead to a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia”. Moscow had previously warned of retaliation if Finland and Sweden joined the bloc. However, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Glushko said that it was too early to discuss possible repositioning of nuclear weapons closer to these countries or any other measures.