Because of the reluctance in the Ukraine crisis, many have asked themselves: where is Scholz? Now he is back with a travel announcement. And with a message to one of his predecessors.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to travel to Moscow “soon” for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The SPD politician announced this in the ZDF “heute journal” without giving an exact date. In the discussion about the statements made by former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on the Ukraine crisis, Scholz made it clear who in his party is in charge of the issue. “If I understand the constitutional order of the Federal Republic of Germany correctly, there is only one Chancellor, and that’s me.”
Schröder had on Friday criticized Ukraine’s demands for arms deliveries as “saber rattling”. Scholz said: “I didn’t ask him for advice, he didn’t give me any either.” Scholz also contradicted statements that his party was not following a unified line in the Ukraine crisis. “The SPD is very united and it stands behind the policy pursued by the chancellor.”
reluctance of Scholz
Scholz is accused of acting too cautiously in the Ukraine crisis. French President Emmanuel Macron had spoken to Putin twice on the phone in the past few days. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also spoke to the Kremlin chief. Scholz left open when he last spoke to Putin on the phone. “Of course I also spoke to the Russian President,” he said simply.
According to official information from the federal government, a telephone call has been held with Putin since the chancellor took office on December 21. When asked by the German Press Agency whether there had been talks, a government spokesman replied on Wednesday: “We currently have nothing to say beyond the publicly communicated dates.” Scholz met the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj in Brussels on December 15 with Macron. Another conversation with him is not known.
Alliance partners blame Scholz
Ukraine and Eastern European allies accuse Scholz and his government of not putting enough pressure on Russia – partly because of their no to arms deliveries to Ukraine. However, Scholz denied that allies would see Germany as unreliable. “It doesn’t happen,” he said. “Our allies know exactly what they have in us.” The Chancellor referred to Germany’s contribution to deterring NATO from Russia and to financial aid for Ukraine of almost two billion euros in recent years.
He reaffirmed the strategy of the SPD and his government in the Ukraine crisis. The Chancellor again threatened Russia with sanctions in the event of an invasion of Ukraine and at the same time signaled his willingness to talk about de-escalation. Many people feared a war in the middle of Europe, said Scholz. “It is our common task to use this dual strategy to ensure that this does not happen.”
Source: Stern
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