Scholz names his "goal" in the Ukraine war on ARD - but he still owes a confession

Created: 05/30/2022, 19:22

Caren Miosga interviewed Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the Ukraine war in the ARD Tagesthemen.

©Screenshot / ARD

In an interview on Monday, Olaf Scholz was confident about the oil embargo - but he never made a specific commitment to the war in Ukraine.

Brussels - At a two-day exchange of EU heads of state and government at a special summit of the European Council in Brussels, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine is the focus.

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) joined the ARD on Monday for an interview with the program "Tagesthemen" from Brussels.

He is "very confident" about the EU's oil embargo - but cannot bring himself to make a clear commitment on another point.

Ukraine war: Chancellor Olaf Scholz "very confident" about oil embargo

In view of the escalating Ukraine conflict, the European Union has already decided on five packages of sanctions against Russia.

In Brussels, the EU heads of state and government are now discussing the sixth package of measures.

It was also about an oil embargo.

The central point of contention is still an exception for countries such as Hungary, the Czech Republic or Slovakia, which are heavily dependent on Russian oil.

However, in order to get the sanctions package off the ground, all countries need to agree.

At the beginning of the conversation, Tagesthemen moderator Caren Miosga asked Chancellor Scholz whether one could speak of an embargo if around a third of Russian oil continued to flow to Europe.

"It is also about finding a way of taking account of the countries that cannot find a solution from one day to the next [...] where they can get a replacement for their oil," replies the Federal Chancellor.

He points out that it is geographically more difficult for some countries than for others.

Overall, however, the German Chancellor sees progress in agreeing on an oil embargo.

"I am [...] very confident that we will achieve a joint result," said Scholz optimistically on Monday.

But that would only work if there had been careful discussion beforehand.

"It is very clear to me that we need such an embargo," the Chancellor clarified.

Ukraine war: Scholz without a clear commitment to Ukraine's victory?

- "Russia must not win"

Last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron called Russian President Vladimir Putin and called on him to end the war in Ukraine.

Both US President Joe Biden, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock name a clear goal in the Ukraine war: Ukraine must win.

But Chancellor Olaf Scholz has not made such a clear statement so far.

When asked about this, the chancellor named his goal in the Ukraine war in the “Tagesthemen” interview on Monday:

"The goal that we all have in Europe is that Ukraine can defend its own country, its sovereignty and integrity and that Russia does not win this war," said Scholz.

That's how the US President put it when he said: "Putin must not win the war".

“That is what we are supporting with our many support measures and sanctions,” Scholz continued.

Everything should lead to Russia breaking off plans to conquer the territory of its neighboring country.

However, the sentence "Ukraine must win" did not come off the Chancellor's lips - despite a specific request from Miosga.

Olaf Scholz on the Ukraine war: "All of Putin's goals have completely failed"

However, a ceasefire at the present time would mean the loss of a large part of the areas in the Donbass, moderators Miosga asked in an interview with Scholz.

"It is very clear to me that Russia must withdraw its troops," the Chancellor replied.

He said that in every conversation with the Russian President.

"That's why we're giving Ukraine massive support." With regard to Russia's invasion, one could only speak of imperialism, wanting to use force to move borders and disregarding the law, emphasized the Chancellor.

Scholz also again assured Ukraine of his support and already considered Putin's plans to have failed.

According to Scholz, if Finland and Sweden were to become members of NATO, all of Putin's goals would have failed.

There will then be “a stronger NATO, a united European Union, Ukraine will receive massive support and [Putin’s] goal of conquering Ukraine in a short time has completely failed.”