In a general debate in the Bundestag, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again emphasised the federal republic’s solidarity with Ukraine, and called for an urgent end to the war. 

Scholz pledges support for Ukraine

“The guns must fall silent - immediately,” Scholz said during the general debate in the Bundestag in Berlin on Wednesday. Speaking of his numerous conversations with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy in the past weeks - which most recently saw Zelenskyy appeal to the Bundestag for support - Scholz said, “President Zelenskyy, Ukraine can count on our help.” 

He maintained that NATO would not engage in a military confrontation with Russia over the invasion of Ukraine, nor would it impose a no-fly zone, but said that the west would continue to impose sanctions on Russia. He called on President Putin to recognise “the truth about the war in Ukraine. And that truth is: the war is destroying Ukraine, but [with it] Putin is also destroying Russia’s future.” 

Ukrainian refugees welcome in Germany

Scholz emphasised that Germany has been supplying weapons and equipment to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and was imposing sanctions to economically strangle Russia. These have had an effect and are constantly being sharpened, Scholz said. 

He added that, though it would represent a major challenge, Germany was committed to taking in Ukrainian refugees, like other EU countries, in an act of solidarity. “The refugees are welcome here,” he said. 

Image: photocosmos1 / Shutterstock.com