Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the West must strap in for a “long” war against Russia and that allies should pour weapons and tanks into the conflict.
Speaking at the annual Munich Security Conference, Chancellor Scholz rejected the idea of trying to put a time frame for the end of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, saying that it would be “wise to prepare for a long war” and that the West should send the message to Vladimir Putin that NATO is prepared to support Ukraine for as long as necessary.
“It is not our arms deliveries that prolong the war. The opposite is true,” Scholz claimed. “The earlier President Putin realises that he is not achieving his imperialist goal, the greater the chance of an early end of the war, of withdrawal of Russian conquest troops.”
While Germany faced heavy criticism for taking a long time to decide whether or not to send any weapons to Ukraine, and more recently held up supplies of German-made tanks even by other countries, the Social Democrat is now calling on allies to provide heavy armour to Ukraine.
The leftist leader claimed that he would “intensively” lobby in Munich for “all those who can supply such main battle tanks really do so now.”
Scholz added that Germany is prepared to “make this decision easier” by providing training for Ukrainian soldiers as well as supplies and logistics.
After months of deliberations, Germany announced in January that it would be sending 14 Leopard 2 main battle tanks as a part of a broader shipment of 30 such vehicles from Western powers backing Ukraine.
It has still not been determined when exactly this shipment will arrive in the Eastern European country, however, with Scholz claiming on Friday that his government is working hard to deliver them soon.
The German chancellor also acknowledged previous criticism of his country for failing to meet its NATO spending requirements — a failing often raised by former U.S. President Donald Trump — and committed that going forward his government will meet the alliance’s 2 per cent of GDP minimum military spending requirements.
He went on to say that his government is working on plans to have “permanent” military equipment and ammunition production so that in future it will not find itself in its current position of needing to beg other countries, such as Brazil, to supply it with munitions.
Yet while Scholz called for ramped-up support for Ukraine, he cautioned against unnecessary escalation, claiming: “For the first time in our history, a nuclear power is waging an imperialist war of aggression here on European soil… There is no blueprint for that.”
The Chancellor said that he believes there is still “broad support” for his country’s involvement in the war. However, it remains to be seen for how much longer that will be the case, given a recent poll finding that a plurality of Germans believe that the sanctions imposed upon Russia have hurt their country more than the Kremlin.
The German government has already suggested public sentiment on the war may be irrelevant, however, with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock saying in September that the state would be willing to continue to back Ukraine for years “no matter what my German voter thinks.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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