“Rutte noted that Germany ranks second after the USA in military support to Ukraine”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Speaking about the fact that Chancellor Scholz opposes the provision of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, Rutte made it clear that he personally would not impose any restrictions on their use. “In general, we know that such opportunities are very important for Ukraine,” said the ex-prime minister of the Netherlands.
However, Rutte defended the German chancellor from criticism and sometimes harsh accusations of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky against Scholz.
“I often told Zelensky to stop criticizing Olaf Scholz, because I think it’s unfair… What Olaf Scholz has done is amazing. Scholz helped make Germany second only to the United States in military support to Ukraine with 28 billion euros, and by some estimates as much as 34 billion. This is a huge amount, which is far ahead of many other countries, including large European economies,” he said.
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Rutte emphasized that Germany’s security is at stake in its policy towards Ukraine. “If Ukraine had lost, we would have had to spend much, much more on defense to counter the Russian threat,” the Secretary General added.
Earlier, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal reported that Germany’s total aid to Ukraine amounted to 37 billion euros. This is the largest among all European countries.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz does not support allowing Kyiv to use German weapons to hit targets in Russia. He has stated several times that he seeks to avoid the escalation of the conflict.
Scholz was also criticized for having a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This happened for the first time since December 2022. Scholz later called the phone call with Putin “disappointing” because it didn’t produce any results, but added that he was ready to talk again.