Scholz again warned against an “outbidding competition” in which “domestic political motives are in the foreground instead of supporting Ukraine”. When it comes to important issues such as arms deliveries, the Chancellor stressed that “it must be a matter of factual issues, of rational considerations.”
After Germany and other western countries agreed to supply battle tanks to Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for combat aircraft, among other things. Scholz and Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) reject this.
SPD leader Saskia Esken did not want to commit to this issue on Sunday. “It is very important that Germany and NATO do not become a party to the war,” she said on the ARD program “Report from Berlin”. The federal government is in very close coordination with the USA. It is crucial to keep evaluating the current situation, said Esken.
At the joint press conference with Chilean President Gabriel Boric, Scholz recalled that the Russian war of aggression was “not a purely European matter, but a challenge for the international order as a whole”. The war has far-reaching consequences, for example with regard to raw material prices and food security.
It should not be accepted “that a large country tells its smaller neighbor that it wants to appropriate part of its territory,” said Scholz. “As democracies, we must therefore stand together worldwide and prevent a return to the rule of law.” In this context he praised “Chile’s very clear position in condemning the Russian aggression”.
Scholz is currently making his first trip to South America as chancellor. On Monday he will take part in a German-Chilean economic forum. Scholz then wants to travel on to Brasília. Brazil is the last stop on his four-day trip.
