Scholz: Response to Russia will be 'united and decisive' if Ukraine is invaded

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said the response to Russia will be "united and decisive" should it decide to launch a new invasion of Ukraine.

According to Ukrinform, he stated this in an interview with The Washington Post.

"We are cooperating with our allies in NATO and [the European Union], and with the United States, on the question of how to react to this threat to Ukraine that is coming from Russia. Our strict response is saying it will have very high prices," Scholz said.

When asked about the criticism that Germany has not been a strong enough ally, both to Ukraine and within NATO, he stressed that "we are the strongest economic supporter of Ukraine." "It is approximately 2 billion U.S. dollars so far, [in the past 7 years]," Scholz said.

Commenting on the criticism that Germany handed over a batch of helmets to Ukraine and no weapons, Scholz noted that "it was Ukraine that put in the request to send helmets, and we reacted to that." When asked whether the German government will halt the process to open the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if Russia launches a new invasion of Ukraine, the chancellor said he did not want to get into any specifics, but "our answer will be united and decisive."

Scholz noted that at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 15, he would try to convey that Russia would have a very high price if it intervened into Ukraine with its military troops. He added that he would meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 14 to discuss the full-fledged reinstatement of the Minsk format.

Scholz arrived in Washington on February 6 on his first visit as head of government. He will hold talks with U.S. President Joe Biden.

op