German Chancellor: "Putin must understand that his imperialist invasion and aggression cannot succeed"
The burden of ending the war in Ukraine remains with Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was quoted as saying by Politico.
"In my opinion, it is necessary for Putin to understand that he will not succeed with his imperialist invasion and aggression and that he must withdraw his troops. This is the basis of the talks," Scholz told CNN in an interview.
The German leader admitted that the Russian-Ukrainian war has reached a stalemate and is causing huge damage to Ukraine. However, the official said Germany would not press the Ukrainians to make uncomfortable compromises.
"There will be no decisions without Ukrainians," Scholz said, adding Putin clearly misjudged "Ukraine's strength" as well as the "unity" of "all friends of Ukraine" in challenging the Russian invasion, which began in February 2022.
Furthermore, Olaf Scholz made it clear that his country would continue to support Ukraine.
"It is very difficult to make a judgement on what will happen next in Ukraine, but there is one thing that is absolutely clear: we will continue to support Ukraine with financial aid, with humanitarian aid, but also with weapons."
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski says reconstruction work in the country will cost more than $1 trillion.
