He stressed the need for Russia not to win the war and for Russia not to achieve its goals in Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Solzanswering topical questions from Members of the Bundestag.
Soltz, who appeared before the German parliament as part of his planned pre-Catholic Easter address, again called on Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine and end the war.
“Our basic principle remains that Russia must not win the war in Ukraine and that’s why we decided on sanctions “We are arming the Ukrainians and taking in refugees,” he said. “We will do what is needed and what can have a rapid impact”he added.
Mr Solz reiterated that Germany’s concern was to get rid of Russia’s fossil fuels by setting up terminals to receive liquefied natural gas as soon as possible. He added that Germany must become more independent of fossil fuels in general. “Now, the need is greater than ever,” he said.
In more detail, Chancellor Olaf Solz spoke of “war crimes” and “disgusting images”, while saying he was “deeply shocked” and “dumbfounded” by the horrors revealed in the city of Bukha, near Kyiv. He directly accused the Russian military of committing “massacres of civilians, including children, women and the elderly” and promised a new arms shipment to Ukraine.
“Killing civilians is a war crime,” Soltz said from the floor of the Federal Parliament, stressing that the perpetrators must be held accountable. “We are deeply shocked by the horrific images from Bhutto,” he said, dismissing Moscow’s claims that the images were fabricated. “The cynical claim spread by Russia that this issue is just a direction goes back to those who spread these lies,” the chancellor continued, warning of new images such as those by Bouka.
Olaf Solz once again called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to immediately end the “catastrophic and self-destructive” war in Ukraine, but reaffirmed his commitment to further arms deliveries, in coordination with the EU and NATO. “Ukraine will continue to be supplied with weapons and the pressure on Russia will continue to increase through sanctions,” he said. As for the weapons that will be delivered, he explained that it will be “anything that makes sense and can be used immediately in these circumstances” and defended his government’s decision to temporarily abandon the permanent restrictive policy of delivering armaments systems in crisis areas. “It was the right decision, which we weighed, but we made quickly,” he said, adding that the new deliveries would involve weapons in German military depots, as well as systems that could be obtained directly from the equipment market. He reiterated, however, that NATO was not going to be directly involved in the war.
Referring to the issue of Germany’s energy dependence on Russia, Olaf Solz argued that the dependence was built over decades and could not be changed overnight and called for coordinated European action on the issue, while ruling out the possibility of extending its operation. of nuclear power plants. “Germany has decided, for good reason, to phase out nuclear energy,” he said.
Asked about Ukraine’s possible neutrality status, Mr Soltz said it was a “major concession to the aggressor” and made it clear that negotiations should not lead to a “dictated peace”. As he said, every time he talks to the Russian president he emphasizes that it is the Ukrainians who will negotiate what they are willing to give and what they are not. “No one else,” he said, adding that the status of security guarantees for Ukraine has not yet been clarified in the negotiations. “Obviously we are talking about this, but with the necessary confidentiality – both with Ukraine and with everyone else involved.”
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