Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “responsible for war crimes” committed in Ukraine. This Tuesday’s (19) statement is another to reinforce the tone of Western accusations against the Kremlin leader.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a flagrant violation of international law and the killing of civilians constitutes a war crime for which the Russian President is responsible. […] We feel immense pain for the victims and also great anger at the Russian President for this senseless war,” Scholz said in a statement after a virtual meeting with Western leaders.
The German Chancellor also reiterated that Russia “will not win this war” and said his country “has asked the German defense industry to tell us what can be shipped quickly” and Ukraine “is making a selection from that list”. .
“We still put money into the purchase,” he said.
Armor for Kyiv includes antitank and antiaircraft weapons, ammunition, and also what “can be used in an artillery battle.” However, Scholz emphasized that every deployment decision is shared with partners in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and that “German individual initiatives” are wrong.
The German leader also stressed that although the war points to a new intense offensive in eastern Ukraine, NATO will not intervene directly in the conflict, lest it escalate further.
Recently, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged countries to recognize that Moscow is committing genocide in the country, but only American Joe Biden has adopted the term.
The countries of the European Union in particular are more careful in their choice of words and speak of “war crimes” committed on Ukrainian territory. (ANSA).