BEELIN: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has agreed that weapons supplied by the West will not be used on Russian territory, Germany’s chancellor said in an interview published on Sunday.
“There is a consensus on this point,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz told the weekly Bild am Sonntag, adding that such a consensus-based approach “avoids an escalation.”
Noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not threaten to “either me or Germany” during phone talks, Scholz said that Germany will keep a cool head and continue weighing in all the decisions in the future.
In recent days, Ukraine’s Western allies have pledged to provide it with precision rockets, missile systems and tanks, which aroused protests and worries about more advanced weaponry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday in a speech on the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, that Russia’s response to threats will not be limited to the use of armored vehicles.
Putin also said that those who are trying to draw European countries into a new war against Russia clearly don’t understand that a modern war with Russia will look completely different.
Moscow is ready to use all kinds of weapons to respond to Ukraine’s attack on Russia, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.
“Our response can be anything,” Medvedev said in response to a corresponding question.
He added that the response would be swift, hard and convincing, in accordance with Russia’s doctrinal documents, including the country’s state policy on nuclear deterrence.
Last month, underscoring the need for caution in delivering military aid to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had made it clear that Germany would not send combat aircraft and ground troops to Kyiv.
In an interview with German newspaper Tagesspiegel published on Sunday, Scholz sounded the alarm of an arms race among Western allies over sending weapons to help arm Ukraine in the ongoing conflict with Russia.
“I can only advise against entering into a constant competition to outbid each other over weapons systems,” he said.
The German leader’s remarks come days after Berlin announced that it agreed to send its advanced Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Russia criticized the move, saying it could escalate and prolong the conflict .Scholz said that Germany is not a “warring party” to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and vowed to do everything to avoid escalations, Tagesspiegel reported on Saturday.
“There must not be a war between Russia and NATO,” he said. –Agencies
On January 25, the German government agreed to provide Ukraine with 14 Leopard 2 battle tanks from its own stocks and allowed its customer countries to do the same.
Hours later, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that his administration will provide Ukraine with 31 U.S.-made M1 Abrams tanks. A day later, the Canadian Defense Ministry announced it would send four Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and is considering sending more at a later date.
