German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Ukraine for his first visit in 2.5 years
Kyiv, Ukraine — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine on Monday for the first time in more than two and a half years, just weeks after being criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The call comes at a time of widespread speculation about what President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration will mean for Ukraine, with the new president promising to end the conflict. In a major change, Zelensky reported Friday that an offer to join NATO access to territory under kyiv’s control could end the “hot phase of the war” in Ukraine.
Scholz’s visit comes ahead of Germany’s snap elections expected in February. As the campaign gets underway, Scholz highlighted Germany’s status as Ukraine’s second-largest arms supplier, while emphasizing its “caution” in its efforts to prevent the escalation of the war and its refusal to deliver Taurus long-range cruise missiles.
Scholz was cautious about discussions on accelerated Ukraine membership in NATO. In recent months, he has stressed the importance of finding a path to peace, while emphasizing that it should not be chosen at the expense of Ukraine.
Scholz said that during his meeting with Zelensky he would announce new military deliveries this month totaling 650 million euros.
“I would like to state clearly here that Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe,” he said.
Despite this, Scholz was criticized by Zelensky in November for speaking to Putin in what appeared to be the first conversation with the sitting leader of a major Western power in almost two years. In this call, Scholz urged Putin to be open to negotiations with Ukraine But the Russian leader said any peace deal would have to recognize Russia’s territorial gains and security demands, including kyiv’s renunciation of its NATO membership.
Zelensky suggested that calling on Putin risked opening “a can of worms” and would only serve to make Russia less isolated. He traveled to Berlin in October to meet with Scholz to drum up support for his project. “victory plan” to end the war in Ukraine during a tour of European capitals.
The plan suggested that Ukraine receive a formal invitation to join NATO and a request that kyiv receive permission to use long-range Western missiles to strike military targets in Russia.
Western countries authorized kyiv to carry out long range strikes with their weapons in November. Following the decision, Putin said Russia had launched a strike on Ukraine with an unstoppable intermediate-range ballistic missile dubbed the Oreshnik. It was the first time such a missile had been used in war or any other conflict.
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