Germany is not going to ship fighter jets to Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz showed on Sunday, as Kyiv calls at the West for much more guns to counter the Russian invasion.
After a number of weeks of hesitation, Berlin made up our minds on Wednesday to ship 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to permit different nations to do the similar.
In an interview on Sunday with the Tagesspiegel newspaper about his response to a request from kyiv to obtain fighter planes, Olaf Scholz mentioned, “The question of fighter planes does not even arise. I can only advise against get into a constant bidding war when it comes to weapon systems”.
“As soon as a decision (on the tanks) is taken, a new debate starts in Germany” on one thing else, “that is not serious and undermines the confidence of the citizens in the decisions of the government”, he added.
The determination to ship German tanks to Ukraine used to be accompanied through a identical selection through the United States to offer the Ukrainian military with American-made Abrams tanks.
While thanking Berlin and Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an instant known as for extra, together with fighter planes and long-range missiles.
In his interview, Olaf Scholz once more warns in opposition to the “risk of escalation” with Moscow. “There is no war between NATO and Russia. We will not allow such an escalation,” he mentioned.
According to him, it’s “necessary” to proceed speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Their final assembly dates again to the start of December. “I’m going to talk to Putin on the phone again,” he says, with out specifying a time limit.
“But of course it is also clear that as long as Russia continues to wage war by relentlessly attacking (Ukraine), the current situation will not change,” he mentioned.
