German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has declared that the war between Russia and Ukraine will not be allowed to escalate to involve the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Scholz also revealed yesterday that Germany does not have any plans to send fighter jets to Ukraine as Kyiv called on the West for more weapons to counter the Russian invasion, according to Euro News.
After putting off the decision for several weeks, Berlin decided to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday and to permit other nations to do the same.
Similar to this, US President Joe Biden declared on Thursday that 31 Abrams tanks would be delivered to Ukraine to fend off Russian incursions.
Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, promptly asked for more, including fighter planes and long-range missiles, while praising Berlin and Washington.
But, reacting in an interview on Sunday with the Tagesspiegel newspaper about Zelensky’s demand for fighter planes, Scholz said, ‘The question of fighter planes does not even arise. I can only advise against getting into a constant bidding war when it comes to weapon systems.’
‘As soon as a decision (on the tanks) is taken, a new debate starts in Germany’ on something else, ‘that is not serious and undermines the confidence of the citizens in the decisions of the government’, he added.
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Scholz again warned against the ‘risk of escalation’ with Moscow. ‘There is no war between NATO and Russia. We will not allow such an escalation.’
According to him, it is “necessary” to continue talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
‘But of course, it is also clear that as long as Russia continues to wage war by relentlessly attacking (Ukraine), the current situation will not change’ he said.
Africa Today News, New York reports that their last meeting dates back to the beginning of December. “I’m going to talk to Putin on the phone again,” he said, without specifying a deadline.