Scholz before his meeting with Macron: Germany and France will not reduce support for Ukraine
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Germany and France would not reduce their support for Ukraine. Berlin and Paris will also defend Europe's interests against the United States.
Scholz said this before the start of talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on January 22,Ukrinform reports, Censor.NET reports .
"One thing is clear: Ukraine can rely on us. We will not weaken our support for Ukraine, which has been heroically repelling Russian aggression for almost three years now... Of course, we all want this terrible war to end, but this is only possible if Ukraine is strong," the German Chancellor said.
Scholz noted that he had promised continued support to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during their meeting in Davos the day before.
"Putin has put an axe to the European peace order, the principle of which is that borders cannot be moved by force," the politician said.
In addition, Scholz said that France and Germany have a common goal: together with their European partners and friends, they will defend the interests of a free, strong and economically successful Europe.
The German Prime Minister also said that U.S. President Donald Trump "will be a challenge" and mentioned that Trump has already made or announced a number of decisions that European partners will analyze in detail.
"Our position is clear: Europe is a large economic area with approximately 450 million citizens. We are strong. We stand together. Europe will not hide, but will be a constructive and confident partner," Scholz said.
He noted that in recent years, Europeans have done a lot to strengthen NATO's European backbone, and that defense spending is growing in almost all European countries.
The German Chancellor added that Berlin and Paris have decided to develop high-precision weapons together with European partners. According to him, German-French cooperation in the field of defense and armaments is already underway and is deepening.
Earlier, Scholz said that Germany would soon discuss security guarantees for Ukraine with its allies.
