BERLIN, Dec 8 (Portal) – The risk that Russian President Vladimir President Putin will use nuclear weapons as part of his war in Ukraine has fallen in response to international pressure, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Thursday.
The war continues with “undiminished brutality”, but one thing has changed for the time being, Scholz told the Funke media in an interview on the occasion of his first year in office.
“Russia has stopped threatening to use nuclear weapons. In response to the international community drawing a red line.”
Despite deep divisions, it is important that the dialogue with the Kremlin continues, the German leader added.
Putin on Wednesday said the risk of nuclear war was rising, but insisted Russia had not “gone mad” and viewed its own nuclear arsenal as a purely defensive deterrent.
Funke said the interview with Scholz was conducted on Monday and quoted on Wednesday afternoon.
Scholz said Putin must end the war but was then ready to talk to Russia about arms control in Europe, adding that this was also offered before the war.
Defending Germany’s support for Ukraine, which critics in Kyiv and elsewhere in Europe said had been too muted, Scholz said Germany was one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters after the US, including on arms supplies.
“We are doing everything we can to prevent a direct war between Russia and NATO. Such a conflict would only have losers – all over the world,” he said.
Scholz said he expected Europe’s largest economy to weather the winter well and remain a strong and prosperous industrial nation while reducing its reliance on Russian energy.
“We are now making the necessary decisions to become independent in the long term. From 2045 we want to be completely climate neutral and generate our energy completely without natural gas, coal or oil,” he said.
When asked if he would run for chancellor again in the next election, he said: “Of course.”
Reporting by Madeline Chambers
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