German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with Fareed Zakaria, in CNN, that any negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine will only start when Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that he will not win.
“My opinion: it is necessary for Putin to understand that he will not succeed with this invasion and its imperialist aggression. [Entenda] That he needs to withdraw troops. This is the basis for the negotiations”, said Scholz in an interview that aired this Sunday (5).
He added that he believes Ukraine is “ready for peace”.
“If you look at the Ukrainians’ proposal, it’s easy to understand that they are ready for peace. Something needs to be done. This must be done by Putin,” Scholz said.
Asked by Zakaria about the possibility of a deal ending the war, perhaps with Ukraine admitting it will not retake Crimea or parts of the eastern Donbas region, Scholz said there would be no decision without the Ukrainian side.
“We will not make decisions for them. [ucranianos]. We support them,” he said.
Zakaria asked the chancellor if he would encourage Ukraine to consider such a deal, however.
“We told (Ukraine) that they can join the European Union. They are working to make progress on all the fundamental criteria for this. They know that we are ready to organize a path of security guarantees for the country, in times of peace to come, but we are not there yet”, said Scholz.
Scholz in USA
The German chancellor held meetings with US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday (3), after a transformative 12 months that saw Germany undergo its most significant change in military and energy policy in decades.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has transformed Scholz, who took office two months before the Moscow invasion, into a crisis leader, overseeing Europe’s biggest economy and most powerful democracy during the continent’s worst violence since World War Two.
And that pushed the chancellor and Biden into one of the most meaningful relationships in the world, underpinned by shared opposition to the invasion of Russia, but tense moments over how to respond to the crisis.
“You stepped up to provide critical military support. And I would say that, in addition to the military support, the moral support you’ve given the Ukrainians has been profound. Deep,” Biden told his colleague this week in the Oval Office of the White House.
*Contributed to CNN’s Kevin Liptak
Source: CNN Brasil
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