Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a statement about recent developments in global politics. He started off by addressing the question of how a just peace might be achieved in Ukraine. “Russia’s war against Ukraine must end as quickly as possible,” the Federal Chancellor said, adding that such peace had to be sustainable and that Ukraine’s sovereignty had to be ensured. “This is why we will never support a dictated peace,” the Federal Chancellor pointed out.

Scholz also spoke about security in Europe and the future and level of defence expenditure in NATO. “By establishing NATO we have forged the strongest defence alliance in history.” The Federal Chancellor said that this strong alliance should be preserved “in our own interest, because without security, nothing else matters”. 

The key facts at a glance:

• Europe’s role in peace negotiations for Ukraine: Scholz said that the Europeans were Ukraine’s greatest supporters and were directly affected by any negotiations. It was a consensus in Europe, he said, that “no decisions about Ukraine must be made without the Ukrainians and no decisions about Europe must be made without the Europeans”. Scholz went on to say that European, transatlantic and international partners were all equally essential to ensure a sustainable peace.
• The role of NATO with regard to security: The Federal Chancellor said that a strong NATO should be preserved, and that the American President had also stressed that this was his intention. “The Americans are right, however, to expect us Europeans to contribute more to the Alliance’s strength and thus to security in Europe,” Scholz said, adding that this was the only way in which Europe could remain America’s ally on an equal footing. This was why Germany would be investing more in its own security and the security of NATO in the future, he stated. 

Watch the video of the Federal Chancellor's statement here (german): 

You can read a transcript here (only German).