KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine on Monday for the first time in more than two years, just weeks after he was reprimanded by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a telephone conversation. He later vowed to continue supporting Kiev in the war. Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The conflict is approaching a pivotal new stage as the new US administration of President Donald Trump takes office next month, potentially determining the war's trajectory after the president-elect's pledge to end the fighting.
As President Vladimir Putin seeks to perpetuate Western involvement in Ukraine, Ukraine is sensitive to whether there are cracks in the unity of its Western allies, who continue to support Russia.
With the war soon entering its fourth year, President Zelenskiy said he would not agree to a meeting between President Scholz and President Putin. Zelensky said this could prompt a phone call with other leaders, reduce Putin's international isolation and justify a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Scholz, for his part, defended his call, explaining that he wanted to remind Putin that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state and should be able to decide its own future. He also stressed that he told President Putin that Ukraine is not alone and that partners will continue to support him.
Although Germany is Ukraine's second-largest donor after the United States and has been a vocal supporter, Scholz has supported Zelensky's two key demands: the delivery of German-made and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine. refused supplies and invitations to Ukraine. Join NATO as soon as possible.
Scholz, who faces early elections in February, said the Taurus missiles were part of a “sensible” approach to the conflict that would ensure strong support for Ukraine without risking the war escalating into a NATO-Russia conflict. He announced his refusal to launch. .
“This does not weaken our support. It is very widespread, and this is important to me, it will continue to be widespread,” Scholz said in Kyiv.
In a major change, President Zelensky suggested on Friday that he could end Ukraine's “hot phase of the war” by offering NATO membership to areas under Kiev's control.
In November, some Western countries authorized long-range attacks on Kiev using the weapons they supplied. In response to this decision, President Putin said that Russia had launched an attack on Ukraine with an uncontrollable medium-range ballistic missile called Oreshnik. This is the first time such a missile has been used in a war or other conflict.
Mr. Scholz is cautious about talk of rushing Ukraine into NATO. He emphasizes the importance of finding a path to peace and insists that peace should not be chosen over Ukraine's head.
Germany, the leader in providing air defense systems to Ukraine, has already delivered five IRIS-T systems, three Patriot systems and more than 50 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, Scholz said. Another military aid delivered this month will include another IRIS-T system and more Gepards, he added. More material will be published in 2025.
Russia continues to barrage Ukraine's civilian areas and power grid. Zelenskiy said that in recent months Russia had fired 347 missiles of various types toward Ukraine.
He called for the expansion of Western air defense systems, adding that about 20 important objects remain unprotected. He did not elaborate on the type of facility.
