Scholz says Russia must not impose ‘dictated peace’ on Ukraine

KYIV: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in Kyiv on Monday that Russia must not be allowed to “impose a dictated peace on Ukraine” in any negotiations.

Scholz said that in efforts to reach “a fair, just and lasting peace” no decisions must be taken “without Ukraine”.

The German chancellor spoke of military support worth 650 million euros ($680 million) to be delivered by the end of the year, but officials in Berlin later conceded that the aid had been previously announced.

Scholz said that overall Germany has spent 28 billion euros on military support for Ukraine since Russia’s 2022 invasion, including air defence systems, tanks, howitzers, helicopters, drones, ammunition and spare parts.

“We will not let up in the coming years in mobilising the support that is necessary,” said Scholz in a press conference with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Russia’s drone attack on Ternopil kills one, Ukraine’s military says

Scholz condemned strikes against energy infrastructure in Ukraine as the gruelling war enters a third winter.

“Russia continues to target Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in a targeted and merciless manner,” he said, Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants people to freeze” and to damage the economy.

“We will not allow his cynical calculation to work out”.

He however reiterated his opposition to giving Ukraine Germany’s long-range Taurus missile system which could fire deep into Russian territory.

Berlin believes that the high-tech weapon could only be deployed with targeting assistance from German forces.

“For individual weapon systems, we have a certain assessment of whether it is right to make them available or not,” Scholz said.

“That has something to do with the range and the need to control the targeting. And that’s why we said no.”

Scholz recalled that he spoke by phone with Putin in November – a call widely criticised for breaking the Russian president’s international isolation.

The German leader said he believed Putin had planned the war for years: “It was not spontaneous, three weeks or two months before. It was something he worked towards in a targeted manner.”