‘Stranger’ – Merz criticizes Schulze’s statement about ‘shooting dates’ in Kyiv
Frederic Merz (CDU) went to Kyiv in early May
Source: dpa / Efrem Lukatsky
Chancellor Schultz made it clear on a television program that he did not want to travel to Kyiv unless there were specific matters to be settled. For opposition leader Merz, this is “strange”. The CDU leader again invited the chancellor to travel to Ukraine.
uThe leader of the trade union faction Friedrich Merz was outraged by the statements of Chancellor Olaf Schultz (Social Democratic Party) about politicians’ trips to Kyiv during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “I find it strange that the chancellor is making an apostrophe the chairperson of the committee, the president of the Bundestag and the foreign minister as he said last night on this TV programme,” the CDU leader criticized on Tuesday before a meeting of the union faction in the Bundestag. Merz asked Scholz to finally travel to the Ukrainian capital himself.
Schultz made clear on RTL television on Monday that he only wanted to travel to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, if there were specific matters to be sorted out. “I wouldn’t join a group of people who are quickly in and out by taking pictures. But when that happens, it’s always about very specific things,” the chancellor said.
Foreign Minister Annalina Barbuk (the Green Party) traveled to Kyiv last week as the first member of the government since the start of the war. Shortly before that, there was the President of the Bundestag Barbel Pass (SPD). At the end of April, the Chairman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Struck-Zimmermann (FDP), the President of the European Commission, Anton Hofriter (the Greens), and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth (the Social Democratic Party), were in Ukraine for talks.
Opposition leader Merz himself was the first high-ranking German politician to be in Kyiv at the beginning of May and spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for about an hour. Now Merz said that the way Schulz portrayed his fellow government and Bundestag representatives “also shows somewhat the mood in this coalition now and how we treat each other”. The Chancellor must agree on this method with himself and with his government. It was “obviously part of his behaviour. He has to decide that for himself.”
Olaf Schultz warns of an escalation of the Ukraine war
In a question-and-answer session on RTL TV on Monday, Chancellor Schultz once again warned against an escalation of the war in Ukraine. “We have to worry about the escalation of the war,” the chancellor said. The goal should be for Russia not to win the war in Ukraine.
At the same time, Schultz warned that no one should go beyond that. “Given the fact that it is a nuclear power, this would be a completely wrong goal,” the chancellor added.
He sees no signs of the war ending anytime soon. “So far, unfortunately, it has not been possible to see that the realization has grown that this should end here as quickly as possible,” Schultz said.
Schulz also ruled out that there will be peace with Russia in which the occupied areas of Ukraine will be legitimized. “It’s very clear to me that there is only one way out of this situation for Russia if it comes to an agreement with Ukraine,” Schultz said. It will not be possible to reach a peace agreement in which Ukraine will have to sign territorial concessions. “Will not work.”
It will not work either, ”similar to what happened in other places or, for example, with Crimea, that the war did not happen suddenly in the sense that there was no shooting anymore, but then new border lines are drawn and then everyone waits for you to come back Things are back to normal.” Instead, it is inevitable that there will be an understanding with Ukraine. Ukraine will be supplied with weapons to defend itself until Russian President Putin sees it.
Schultz promised a quick delivery of the Gibbard anti-aircraft tank if ammunition could be found in other countries. “It will go relatively quickly if we get pledges from others,” he said, referring to inquiries from Switzerland or Brazil, for example.
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