Scholz: Russia-Ukraine war could take a long time
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned that the war between Russia and Ukraine could take longer and said it must be prepared.
Speaking at the joint press conference held in Berlin with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Scholz stated that the main topic of the meeting was the preparation for the NATO Summit in Vilnius. Stating that the summit will be a meeting where Russia’s war against Ukraine and how to deal with its consequences will be discussed in depth, Scholz said: “The war may take longer. We have to be prepared accordingly,” he said.
Recalling that they agreed on a series of steps to strengthen the Alliance once again at the Madrid summit a year ago, Scholz said: “NATO is a defense alliance. Germany has done much to increase its defense capabilities because we are all united by a determination to defend every inch of NATO territory. NATO is and will continue to be the main guarantor of collective security. “We will reliably keep a large part of our German army ready for the defense of the Alliance,” he said.
Emphasizing that it is very important to him to have Finland and Sweden at the table as allies in Vilnius, Chancellor Scholz said: “We also discussed the security of critical infrastructure in the North Sea with the NATO Secretary General. I would like to thank the Secretary General for his commitment to the enhanced coordinating role of NATO. “The sabotage of gas pipelines, as well as submarine cables or wind turbines, affects the security of the entire Alliance and is not just a matter of individual Allies.”
Referring to the fact that 2 percent of his country’s gross domestic product goes to defense spending in NATO, Scholz said: “We have made all the preparations to get to 2 percent. I assume that when all the countries in Europe and all the NATO member countries in our transatlantic alliance achieve this, there will be a significant expansion in our defense capability. You can already guess how big the increase in defense spending will be for Germany. “So you can see that all of this will create a tremendous boost in the Alliance’s defense capability,” he said.
Asked if there will be an official invitation for Ukraine to join NATO, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “We are not discussing an official invitation at the Vilnius Summit and its preparations. We are talking about how we can bring Ukraine closer to NATO and there are ongoing consultations. I don’t want to pry into these queries. We agree that the door to NATO is open. We show this with our invitation to Sweden and Finland. We also agree that we said that in 2008 Ukraine would become a member. Russia has no veto power over NATO decisions. We agree that the most important and urgent task at the moment is to ensure Ukraine’s continued existence as an independent and sovereign country in Europe. (AA)