Scholz: we are doing more for Kyiv than ‘almost anyone else’
German chancellor snubs Britain’s support for Ukraine as he calls for more dialogue with Putin
GERMANY’S chancellor appeared to claim he was doing more to support Ukraine than Britain as he suggested that only the US had sent more military aid to Kyiv than he had.
At a press conference yesterday alongside the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, Olaf Scholz said he was providing more support to Ukraine than “almost anyone else”, as the Baltic leaders criticised his insistence that phone calls with Vladimir Putin will help to resolve the war.
“Germany is one of the main supporters of Ukraine militarily and probably only the United States provides greater support than us,” Mr Scholz added, pointing out that Berlin was sending its most advanced Howitzer systems and training Ukrainians to use them.
A recent study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy found that Poland and the UK have both provided more military support to Ukraine than Germany. However, Germany has provided more military aid than France and Canada, according to the same analysis.
Last night, Angela Merkel defended her refusal to fast-track Ukraine into Nato before the war began in February.
In her first interview since stepping down as chancellor in 2021, Ms Merkel said she had concerns about corruption among Ukraine’s oligarchs and that a country could not “join overnight”.
She described Mr Putin’s invasion as a “tragedy” and that there was “no justification” for the “brutal” war.
The former chancellor also revealed that after leaving office she would take long walks across Germany’s Baltic coast wearing a hoodie so that locals would not recognise her.
‘We believe it is impossible to speak with a state that is trying to redraw the map in the 21st century’
Mr Scholz’s remarks were an apparent snub of Britain’s support for Ukraine and came just hours after Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, hailed Boris Johnson as a “very important ally” who was providing the weapons it needed to fight Russia.
Mr Scholz, who has faced intense criticism for refusing to send Western tanks to Kyiv as he fears it could trigger a global conflict, also complained that media coverage of his government was “sometimes not in line with reality”.
In May, the German broadsheet Welt revealed that Germany had not sent any heavy weapons to Ukraine since midmarch and appeared to be scaling back military support, contrary to the government’s claims.
During the same press conference, the four leaders were asked about whether talks with Mr Putin, and efforts to avoid humiliating him, would help resolve the war in Ukraine.
“We have to continue our dialogue and continue speaking to each other,” Mr Scholz responded, only to be contradicted by his EU counterparts.
“We believe it is impossible to speak with a state that is trying to redraw the map in the 21st century,” said Gitanas Nausėda, the president of Lithuania.
Referring to Emmanuel Macron’s warning that the West should not “humiliate” Russia, he added: “We agree on many issues in Europe but there are some where we have not yet found agreement.”
Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš, the Latvian prime minister, also warned that “Putin will start talking only when he realises he is losing the war”.
Kaja Kallas, Estonia’s prime minister, said: “We should not worry so much about what Putin feels, we should [worry] about how Ukraine holds on.”
Mr Kariņš also underlined the importance that Ukraine can “win” the war, a policy that Mr Scholz has so far refused to endorse. The public disagreement reflects a growing division in Europe between Germany’s dovish approach to Mr Putin and that of the Baltic states, which share a land border with Russia.
A recent cartoon on the front page of Polish magazine Wprost showed Mr Scholz and Mr Macron talking into one end of a phone receiver, while Mr Putin bathed in blood on the other end.
However, all three leaders expressed gratitude to Germany for providing economic, diplomatic and military support, such as sending anti-tank missiles and ammunition to Ukraine.
Mr Scholz also announced that Germany would step up its military presence in Lithuania in a display of solidarity against Russia. “We are ready to strengthen our engagement and to develop it towards a robust combat brigade,” he said, but did not give further details.
Berlin sent several hundred troops to Lithuania in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion to support around a thousand troops already in the country working alongside Nato.
Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany, which heads up a Nato battle group in Lithuania, had increased the size of its deployment from 550 to 1,000 soldiers.
The formerly Soviet-ruled Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are all now EU and NATO members, are worried they could be next if Russia defeats Ukraine.
“What is important for us, too, is that we discuss how we respond to the Russian attack by doing everything to make sure Russia cannot win this war,” Mr Scholz said.
It came after Mr Zelensky spoke of his joy at his “friend” Boris Johnson staying in power after seeing off the vote of confidence this week within Conservative ranks. “This is great news,” he said.