With the sending of tanks to Ukraine, NATO is marching on a ridge line.
Are its 30 member countries, including France, at risk of falling into co-belligerence, as the Kremlin denounces?
On Sunday, the German Chancellor wanted to be reassuring: Olaf Scholz reaffirmed that his country will not allow the war in Ukraine to turn into a conflict between Russia and NATO.
“We have contributed to ensuring that there is no escalation of the conflict, because that would have serious consequences for the whole world, declared the head of the German government, after meeting the Chilean president within the framework of his tour in Latin America.
This would lead, for example, to a war between Russia and the NATO countries, this will not happen, we will prevent it with all our efforts, we have succeeded so far and we will continue to do so.
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Sending arms, "not a competition"
"It's about supporting Ukraine, it's about having a serious debate to make the decisions that need to be made and it shouldn't be a competition (to know) who sends the most weapons," he argued.
Olaf Scholz explained, in Santiago de Chile, that he and his American counterpart Joe Biden “(refuse) to send troops to Ukraine” in order to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
The German Chancellor also said on Sunday that his country will not send combat planes to Ukraine.
And after several weeks of hesitation, Berlin finally agreed to send 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
Read alsoAbrams, Leopard, Challenger… the arsenal of tanks promised by Westerners
The leader recalled that Germany “provided its support, like other countries, in the form of financial, humanitarian and arms deliveries, it is our obligation”.
"No country supports Ukraine more than Germany," added Olaf Scholz.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric for his part promised to "contribute (in a) multilateral way to peace".
Arrived late Saturday afternoon in Buenos Aires for his tour of Latin America, the German Chancellor went to Chile on Sunday before continuing to Brazil from Monday to Wednesday, the continent's largest economy.
He will thus be the first Western leader to meet Brazilian President Lula since his re-election.
