MUNICH: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday said that the war between Ukraine and Russia would only truly end with peace if Ukrainian sovereignty is secured.
US President Donald Trump stunned allies and upended the status quo of Washington’s support for Ukraine this week when he announced he would likely soon meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin to start truce talks, sparking fears that Kyiv would be pressured into making painful concessions.
“There will only be peace if Ukraine’s sovereignty is secured,” Scholz told the Munich Security Conference.
“A dictated peace will therefore never find our support.”
He added that “we will also not accept any solution that leads to a decoupling of European and American security. Only one person would benefit from this: President Putin.”
“We Europeans will represent these interests confidently and unitedly in the upcoming negotiations.”
Scholz spoke shortly before Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to address the gathering of European leaders and policymakers in Germany.
Zelensky on Friday said he wanted “security guarantees” after he met with US Vice President JD Vance to discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to broker a truce deal with Moscow.
Zelenskiy says Ukraine has ‘low chance’ of survival without US backing
Scholz said that to ensure Russia would not attack again if peace is reached, Kyiv’s backers “first of all” needed to build up Ukraine’s armed forces in the future.
“There will be a responsibility in the post war times for Europe and for the United States and for the international partners and friends of Ukraine to make this happen,” he said.
“All the sort of security guarantees we give should be designed from this basis.”
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