The speech of the German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz about Ukraine was greeted with “Great disappointment and bitterness ”in Kyiv. The Ukrainian Ambassador in Germany, Andriy MelnykHe has resumed the duel with Berlin after the frost fell between the two countries for the refusal a week ago Volodymyr Zelensky to receive the German Federal President frank walter Steinmeier. This time, Kiev’s “great disappointment” was due to the chancellor’s nosend weapons difficult. The official explanation, repeated by the German Army, is that the export capabilities are exhausted. However, Scholz’s words were divided German public opinion and split the majority. Not only Ukraine and its ambassador are among the disappointed, but also the coalition partners of the SPD: greens and FDP, who instead engaged in sending heavy weapons to Kyiv. Within the Social Democratic Party, on the other hand, there are defended Chancellor. The former Federal President Spd Sigmar Gabrielthat was it foreign minister in the Merkel government justified Scholz says no, underscoring the risk Wladimir Putin can answer “with the use of nuclear weapons tacticsHowever, Gabriel made headlines for another reason: he was spotted after his interview with Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday morning Hanover in the house of the former Chancellor Gerard SchroederFriend of Putin and lobbyist from Gazprom.
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The duel between Kyiv and Berlin Scholz did not clearly address the issue of sending heavy weapons in his speech on Tuesday direct from Germany, topic of German politics discussed for days. He repeated several times that every decision will be shared with partners EU and Born and that “Germany’s individual initiatives” would be wrong. Regarding the export opportunities directly from the Bundeswehr, Scholz said that one had to acknowledge that there were none More options. It is therefore currently impossible for the Bundeswehr to send its heavy weapons to Ukraine: “We would no longer be able to react to it contingencies and the it would weaken especially ours defensive ability‘ said the Inspector General Markus Laubenthalnumber 2 of Armed forces, speaks this morning on German public television Zdf. According to the Ambassador of Ukraine MelnykGermany’s military could supply Kyiv with an unused portion of their own instead vehicles and be howitzers.
“Germany is doing a lot for Ukraine,” commented the German ambassador in Italy, Victor Elbling, during an Ansa forum. “We have provided weapons importantfor connoisseurs of German history it was one rotate a lot importantwe made it available directly spike and other equipment to Ukraine and other weapons”. Elbling also touched on the other issue that aggravates the situation Relationships between Berlin and Kyiv as well as the internal debate in Germany: the no to the embargo oil and gas Russian. “We cannot get out of this relative dependence on Russian gas over nightboth Germany and Italy would be very harmfulbut I am sure that already this year we will take an important step to significantly reduce this addiction, and in the coming years we want to reduce this addiction to zero“, said the German ambassador in Italy.
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The nuclear risk “Did Putin threaten Scholz with a nuclear war?”: This is the question asked by the deputy editorinchief of the newspaper “Die Welt”. Robin Alexander, in his editorial that appeared after the Chancellor’s speech. The German journalist wondered what was really behind the “New justifications“No heavy weapons to send. And he asked for clarification. To put forward the hypothesis of the risk of a nuclear war It was also former Minister Gabriel who defended the work of his party colleague in his interview with Deutschlandfunk: “The chancellor is working in consultation with NATO and especially with the USA,” said Gabriel. He then added: “If my statements are correct, they are not United States supply tank nor the Great Britain“. Therefore, in his view, the reason for Scholz’s reluctance to send heavy weapons lies in the danger that “Putin will try to repel these tanks with the deployment tactical nuclear weapons“. “Nobody wants it. The Western alliance doesn’t want to rush anything this risk and that seems to me to be the main reason,” Gabriel continued. Then the former foreign minister said: “My hope is that the federal government will coordinate with the USA and also with the British to clarify how far we want to go and Where’s the line we don’t want to cross?. Because here in Europe, I don’t think anyone is interested, not even Ukraine, a escalate the war on the use of tactical nuclear weapons”.
However, Gabriel’s arguments soon faded into the background after the Bild newspaper revealed his to encounter in Hanover with the former chancellor Gerard Schroederhas been the focus of criticism for his report since the beginning of the conflict in Germany Friendship with Putin and for the activity of lobbyist carried out in the pay of the Russian giant for years Gazprommainly in the game to double the pipeline north stream 2. The visit lasted about an hour and a half: “I wanted to ask Schröder what came out of his people job interviews in Istanbul and Moscow for peace negotiations between Ukraine and Russia,” Gabriel told Bild. However, as the Tagesspiegel pointed out, the statement at least seems strange, since Schröder’s last publicly known trip to Moscow is already over a month before.
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The criticism in the majority In Germany, meanwhile, Scholz is increasingly alone because the other majority parties are also pushing for the delivery of heavy weapons, a proposal proposed by the Federal Constitutional Court11 April lasted from the Greens, specifically from the Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. The Greens and the liberal out of FDP on this point they are in agreement and against the SPD line. Marie Agnes Strack Zimmermann (FDP) e Anton Hofreiter (The Greens) went to the Ukraine together and have now attacked the chancellor together. The defense expert of the FDP wrote that Germany must support Kyiv “in all matters from now on weapons difficult“. The chairman of the Bundestag’s Europe Committee told Zdf: “We are slowing down sanctions and arms deliveries, there is a risk that the war will go on and on. longer“. Hofreiter’s reasoning is in fact the opposite of Gabriel’s: “The closer Putin gets victorythe greater the risk that the war is spreading. That more countries will be penetrated and that we will actually slip into one third world war. And that is why we must now do everything we can to support Ukraine”.
Also another green Jan AlbrechtSuccessor to the Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck Scholz criticized sharply in the SchleswigHolstein Ministry of the Environment and spoke of “a clumsy attempt to make the public believe that it represents a unified position at the European level”. In fact, the ecological party is not only pushing for the shipment of arms, but also for tightening sanctions in Moscow, abandoning Russian gas and accelerating the energy transition. In the meantime, however, the cracks in the majority coalition are becoming increasingly clear and the opposition could try to exploit them Bundestag. The Union Cdu/Csu Prepare a textshipment of weapons in Kyiv: If it came to the plenary hall, many wonder how they would vote greens and FDP.