Scholz once again warns Putin of imminent and immediate sanctions
Prior to his visits to Kyiv and Moscow, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again warned Vladimir Putin about imminent and immediate sanctions.
He stated this on the eve of his visit to Kyiv on February 14 and to Moscow on February 15, Ukrinform reports.
"Military aggression against Ukraine, which threatens its territorial integrity and sovereignty, will lead to harsh reactions and sanctions, which we have carefully prepared and which we can impose immediately together with our allies in Europe and NATO," Scholz told reporters on the sidelines of the federal presidential election ceremony on Sunday.
At the same time, he stressed that both of his visits were aimed at "ensuring peace in the face of a very serious threat."
During a visit to Kyiv and talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Scholz may announce a package of economic support, including support for the national currency, the hryvnia, which is suffering from instability, according to informed sources in the German government.
As for the provision of defense weapons and military materials, the Chancellor's Office "doesn't expect" that the German side will make any commitments during the visit, but adds that some positions from the list provided by Ukraine to Germany are currently being considered.
"Verification of Kyiv's request continues; there is a political issue, but also purely logistical issues," the source said.
Scholz has repeatedly said recently that Germany has provided 1.83 billion euros in aid to Ukraine since 2014 and is Kyiv's largest bilateral donor.
"Germany is very involved in many areas, whether in bilateral development cooperation, in the context of humanitarian aid, such as demining and disposal of explosive remnants, but also in very specific support, such as the fight against the pandemic, including the supply of vaccines," the government explained.
In bilateral cooperation in the field of development, Germany supports the political and economic transformation of Ukraine and has allocated 771 million euros since 2014 (in 2021, additional commitments of 96.5 million euros were announced).
In addition to the United States, Germany is the largest bilateral donor of humanitarian aid (including demining and disposal, about 163.1 million euros since 2014, about 23.6 million euros in 2021). Germany also supports Ukraine in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, totaling about 63 million euros.
The Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development clarified some points. In particular, the agency has been steadily expanding its cooperation since 2014, providing almost 700 million euros to Ukraine, as well as another 168 million euros for reconstruction and assistance to internally displaced persons because of the conflict; at the end of 2021, the Ministry reached an agreement with the Government of Ukraine on further cooperation, agreed on the allocation of 96.5 million euros to stabilize eastern Ukraine, implement the Association Agreement with the EU, energy efficiency, good governance, and vocational training.
The assistance also includes energy efficiency and governance reform. They also mentioned an unrelated loan of 500 million euros.
Scholz will return to Berlin on Monday night and visit Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sources in the German government emphasize that the chancellor plans to make it clear to the Russian leader that any further aggression against Ukraine will have serious consequences and that the unity between the European Union, the United States, and Great Britain should not be underestimated.
"Maneuvers at the border are in themselves an extremely threatening situation… Recently, our fears have increased, so this is why we need all the available tools," the agency said.
Berlin doesn't expect breakthroughs during the Moscow visit but hopes to continue them.
