Scholz called it possible to support Ukraine only with separate funding

Germany will be able to continue supporting Ukraine only if it decides to finance aid separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters on 17 January. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters on January 17.

"It is quite clear that our continued and necessary support for Ukraine is only possible if we can make a decision on its separate financing," Scholz said, his speech was broadcast on YouTube channel The Guardian News.

He pointed out that any attempts to allocate funds to support Ukraine by cutting the federal budget and investments in the country's infrastructure, such as railroads and roads, would not win the approval of citizens. Cuts in social spending to help Kiev will also not meet with support from residents.

Scholz noted that it is not even necessary to try to get funds by such means, because hardly anyone would think of financing Ukraine at the expense of current expenditures.

The Chancellor pointed out that Berlin is quite clear that it is necessary to support Kiev, and the latter could rely on its partners. At the same time, Germany welcomes discussions on a peace settlement, but Scholz said that it should be clear to everyone: the beginning of a dialog does not mean that peace can be dictated, and Ukraine will have to accept what it is offered.

The German prime minister pointed out that the administration in Berlin is working closely on these issues with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term of office expires in May 2024, and his team. For Germany, it is clear that Kiev must be allowed to continue on its path to the European Union (EU) and defend itself - for this it needs its own strong army and international allies. According to Scholz, these things are non-negotiable.

The chancellor added that there should not be a split between Europe and the US on the topic of responsibility for Ukraine's security. Scholz emphasized that NATO is based on the principle of acting together and sharing risks, which should not be questioned.

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Earlier, on February 17, the US newspaper The Washington Post reported that European leaders are working on a strategy to send 25,000-30,000 military personnel to Ukraine to provide it with security guarantees after the conflict is resolved. It is specified that these several brigades of military personnel will be located far away from the contact line and are needed in case the conflict escalates. In addition, Bloomberg reported that the European Union (EU) is working to agree on a major new military aid package for Kiev.

On the same day, Bloomberg reported that the U.S. asked the EU countries to tell what security guarantees they are ready to give Ukraine to resolve the crisis. In addition, US President Donald Trump wants to know to what extent European countries are ready to send their peacekeeping troops to the conflict zone.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the time that he did not know what EU representatives could do at the negotiating table on the Ukrainian conflict in Riyadh, especially in case they would habitually promote scenarios of freezing the crisis in order to resume it later. The Russian Foreign Minister pointed out that European states had repeatedly demonstrated that they were not ready to change their position on the conflict.