Putin must understand that there will be no peace on Moscow's terms - Scholz
He said this in his speech at the Munich Security Conference, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"Putin must understand that there will be no peace dictated by Moscow, because we will not allow it. We stand more united than ever," Scholz said.
He called the Russian-Ukrainian war and the destruction of the peace order in Europe the worst shake-up of the UN Charter since 1945, which leads to two conclusions.
The first is that the threat to European countries from Russia is real, and the second is about the need to significantly strengthen European security, which requires significant investments.
"We are talking about the greatest security threat on our continent, about a war here, in Europe, even if this war has global consequences. [...] Only if we all provide the necessary resources in solidarity and in the long term will our defense industry reliably increase its production and thus also contribute to our security," the chancellor said.
According to Scholz, European countries managed to rally in support of Ukraine and achieve their goal of strengthening Europe's defense capabilities. He recalled the EU's approval of EUR 50 billion in aid for Ukraine and the decision by the governments of many member countries to significantly increase defense spending, with Germany expected to allocate more than 2.5% of its GDP for these needs this year.
"Russia, on the other hand, has not achieved any of its war goals," Scholz said.
He noted that Putin wanted to end the occupation in two weeks, but instead, in two years, Ukraine has liberated more than half of the Russian-occupied territories and Russia has lost control of the western Black Sea.
"All this is, first of all, the merit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I have the greatest respect for their courage and their hard-won success," the chancellor said.
"All of our support also contributed to this. This should be an incentive for us not to give up now, but to continue on this path resolutely," Scholz said, adding that Germany remains determined in its support for Ukraine.
Photo: EPA
