Germany aims to align with Trump to end ‘merciless’ Ukraine war
Chancellor Olaf Scholz ruled out supplying Kyiv with long-range missiles but stressed the country’s sovereignty should be guaranteed
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects he’ll find alignment with president-elect Donald Trump on how to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, playing down concerns a shift in US leadership risks splitting Kyiv’s biggest backers.
“I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine,” Scholz said in an interview published by German media group Funke on Saturday. “I have already spoken to the future US president at length on the phone, and we are also in direct contact with his advisers on security policy.”
Trump and his team have been critical of the open-ended support offered to Ukraine to repel President Vladimir Putin’s forces without setting a goal beyond total victory.
But with Russian troops making advances, as well as morale and material running low, even officials in Washington and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky have signalled a negotiated halt to the fighting is likely.
The Biden and Trump policies toward the war overlap on strengthening the Ukrainian military, while weakening the Russian economy through sanctions, to push the two sides to negotiations. While Biden has pledged support “as long as it takes,” Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, has promised to end the war swiftly.
Scholz stressed, however, that no resolution could be imposed on Ukraine, and that it “must be able to defend its sovereignty”.
