Olaf Scholz calls for EU and US to support Ukraine more against Russian aggression
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pushed for further U.S. and European aid for Ukraine as he set off Wednesday for a visit to Washington, declaring it was time to send Russian President Vladimir Putin a “very clear signal” that the West won't let up on supporting Kyiv, AP reports.
Scholz is to meet members of the Congress later in the day and President Joe Biden on Friday. His visit comes after wartime aid for Ukraine was left hanging in the Senate as Republicans blocked a bipartisan border package that had been tied to the funding, then struggled to coalesce around a plan to salvage the aid for Kyiv.
Scholz didn't mention that directly in a statement to reporters before his departure, and took no questions. But he said a key issue now is “how Europe, but also the United States, can perpetuate support for Ukraine.”
“What has been pledged so far in Europe and what has been pledged by decisions of the American Congress isn't yet enough,” he said. “So we must achieve a way for all of us together to do more.”
Germany is stepping up aid for Ukraine this year, planning more than 7 billion euros ($7.5 billion) for weapons deliveries despite a domestic budget crisis. It has delivered air-defense systems, tanks and armored personnel carriers among other aid since Russia's full-scale invasion started and is now Kyiv’s second-biggest supplier, after the U.S.
Leaders of the 27-nation European Union, of which Germany is the most populous member, last week sealed a deal to provide Ukraine with 50 billion euros in support for its economy.
Berlin is making “a very big contribution, but it won't be enough on its own if sufficient support doesn't come together everywhere,” Scholz said. “Now is the moment for us to do what is necessary — give Ukraine the possibility to defend itself, and at the same time send the Russian president a very clear signal: the signal that he can't expect our support to ease off.”
The message in the coming weeks needs to be that Western support “will last long enough and be big enough,” the chancellor added.
Scholz already called recently for other European countries to step up with more weapons deliveries for Ukraine, saying that “it can’t be down to Germany alone.”
