We must support Ukraine to prevent Russia from winning - Scholz

That’s according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke at a meeting with Bremen residents on Monday, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Of course, we should support Ukraine so that it can defend itself, so that Russia is unable to prevail. But at the same time, we have to think about the prospects for peace," Scholz said.

According to the chancellor, the international community is creating conditions to this end via meetings in Copenhagen, Jeddah, Valetta, a summit in Switzerland, etc. The head of the German government noted that he and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine are of the same opinion that Russia should be present at the next summit on peace in Ukraine.

However, Scholz warned that it cannot be allowed that certain agreements are followed by a ceasefire "phase", after which Russian troops will regroup and relaunch the invasion while Ukrainians may no longer have strength to hold Russia back.

Peace will not come just because arms supplies to Ukraine are put to a halt, the chancellor said.

"Then it will be over for Ukraine. It won't work that way," he emphasized.

The statements by the Russian president, who demands that before peace talks even start Ukraine not only give up territories temporarily occupied by Russia but also hand them the areas that Russia never conquered, testify to his intentions.

"It's not fair. And everyone noticed this unfairness even before the war," Scholz said, recalling his visit to Moscow before the start of Russia's full-scale aggression. Then the chancellor and Putin discussed Ukraine’s possible membership of NATO as Scholz stated that this could not become a reality for the next 30 years, and that NATO was not going to deploy its missiles on Ukraine’s soil.

"I told him: no one is going to deploy in Ukraine missiles that can reach Moscow," the politician said.

So, he noted, this is a war that Putin has long been plotting. Putin was not concerned with reasons to unleash war, he just sought to wage it and conquer territories.

Scholz admitted that he thinks "day and night" of how to end the war in Ukraine.

It should be recalled that Germany is Europe’s largest donor of security assistance to Ukraine.