As of: February 10, 2024, 8:39 a.m
By: Florian Naumann, Jens Kiffmeier, Stefan Krieger
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Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets US President Joe Biden in Washington and calls for further support for Ukraine.
The news ticker.
Scholz comments
on the
Carlson interview in the
USA
: Chancellor follows up with an announcement to Putin
Trip to the
USA
: Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets with US President Joe Biden
Weapons exports for Ukraine
: Chancellor appeals for support in the US Senate
This news ticker about Chancellor Olaf Scholz's trip to the USA is continually updated.
Update from February 10th, 7:44 a.m.:
After his conversation with US President Joe Biden, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) expressed confidence that US military aid to Ukraine can be maintained.
If it is not possible to reach a corresponding decision in the US Congress, the ability of the Ukrainian armed forces to defend their own country will be threatened, Scholz warned after the conversation in the Oval Office of the White House, which lasted about an hour and 45 minutes .
The Chancellor also warned again of massive consequences if US aid for Ukraine dried up.
“We shouldn’t talk around it: support from the United States is essential to the question of whether Ukraine will be able to defend its own country.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, l) called for support for Ukraine at a meeting with US President Biden.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Meeting between Biden and Scholz – Chancellor sends message to Putin
“That’s why we are both firmly convinced that this has to happen now, but we are also confident that the American Congress will ultimately make such a decision.” That would also be the right message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his hope waiting for a reduction in Western military aid to Ukraine would be in vain.
With a view to the situation in the Middle East, Scholz said that the USA and Germany stand with Israel in the right to defend their own country.
At the same time, in the war against the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas, the conduct of the war must “meet one’s own standards”.
Humanitarian aid must reach the Gaza Strip “on a much larger scale than is the case today,” Scholz also said.
“Ridiculous”: Scholz accuses Putin of lying in Carlson interview
Update from February 9th, 10:10 p.m.:
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of lying during a visit to Washington.
The Kremlin chief is spreading lies about the history of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Scholz said on Friday at a meeting with US President Joe Biden in the White House.
He described Putin's interview with the right-wing US talk show host Tucker Carlson as "ridiculous".
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Biden emphasized that Congress's failure so far to release the requested aid was almost criminal negligence and unheard of.
Update from February 9th, 7:00 p.m.:
Before his conversation with US President Joe Biden, Olaf Scholz believes in further US military aid for Ukraine.
The fact that the US Senate wants to examine another package after several failed attempts is “a sign of confidence”.
He hopes that “the entire Congress will also make this decision,” said Scholz – he wants to “help a lot” with that.
Scholz comments on the Carlson interview in the USA: Chancellor follows up with an announcement to Putin
Update from February 9th, 5:20 p.m.:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz commented in Washington on the Putin interview by the hard-right US moderator Tucker Carlson: It was a “completely absurd story,” said Scholz, according to
Merkur
correspondent Christian Deutschländer .
This makes support for Ukraine all the more important.
The war could “end at any time, but not in the way Putin imagines,” explained the Chancellor.
Scholz visits the USA: bizarre photo with “doppelgänger”
Update from February 9th, 11:37 a.m.:
Despite all the serious issues surrounding military aid for Ukraine, Olaf Scholz (SPD) still has time for some fun on his trip to the USA.
Before his meeting with US President Joe Biden, the German Chancellor posted a selfie with US Senator Chris Coons on the X platform.
The German Chancellor mischievously wrote under the photo: “Good to see my doppelganger again.”
In fact, the politicians, who have known each other from previous years, have a few similarities in some respects - such as the same hairstyle and the same smile lines.
The Chancellor had previously met some US senators for dinner and talked to them about arms aid for Ukraine.
Scholz in the USA: Chancellor appeals for military aid for Ukraine in the US Senate
Update from February 9th, 10:08 a.m
.: Courting for unrestricted solidarity: After a billion-dollar package was rejected in the US Senate, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) continues to insist on American arms assistance in the Ukraine war.
“Ukraine needs all our support to defend itself against Russia’s aggression,” the Chancellor wrote on the online platform X after a meeting with US senators during his trip to the USA. It was “good” with senators from both parties speak, the German head of government added in the post written in English.
At the start of his trip to the USA, the Chancellor met the politicians at a dinner.
The appointment caused a stir because two days earlier an aid package worth $60 billion had failed due to Republican votes in the US Senate.
A working meeting with US President Joe Biden in the White House is also on the agenda in the afternoon.
Negotiates with US President Joe Biden about military aid for Ukraine during his visit to the USA: Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
To date, the USA has been the largest donor of arms aid to Ukraine, according to an overview by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW).
Including arms deliveries, direct aid funds and all humanitarian support, 71.46 billion euros.
Germany is in second place with spending of 20.93 billion euros.
But the mood in the USA in particular is changing.
The Republicans, with their possible presidential candidate Donald Trump, are no longer fully prepared to pay the lion's share for European security.
Current Ukraine war: Weapons deliveries in a country comparison – a list
USA: 71.46 billion euros
Germany: 20.93 billion euros
Great Britain: 13.27 billion euros
Norway: 7.08 billion euros
Japan: 6.79 billion euros
As the
AFP
news agency reported, some US parliamentarians were also hopeful that the USA could continue its financial support for the country attacked by Russia.
It was said that Germany under Scholz had taken a leading role on the Ukraine issue and that had been recognised.
Scholz's US trip: Chancellor arrived in Washington for a working visit
Update from February 9th, 5:40 a.m
.: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has arrived in Washington for his 24-hour short visit, which will primarily focus on further military aid for Ukraine.
The USA and Germany are Ukraine's most important arms suppliers for its defense against Russian attackers.
Scholz and US President Joe Biden want to prevent aid from Western allies from crumbling two years after the invasion.
They will meet at the White House on Friday afternoon for a one-on-one conversation scheduled to last 60 minutes.
Other topics: the Middle East conflict and the NATO anniversary summit to mark the alliance's 75th anniversary in July.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz gets out of a Luftwaffe Airbus after arriving in the USA.
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Union deals against Scholz before the trip to the USA
Update from February 8th, 11:42 a.m
.: At the start of his trip to the USA, the Chancellor urgently warned all allies against a decrease in military support for Ukraine.
“We have to do our utmost to prevent Russia from winning,” Scholz wrote in a guest article for the US medium
The Wall Street Journal published shortly before departure.
“If we don’t do this, we could soon wake up in a world that is even more unstable, threatening and unpredictable than during the Cold War.”
Despite Western support, there could soon be serious shortages of weapons and ammunition in Ukraine, Scholz warned.
Some commitments from Western allies have already expired, others need to be extended.
If it is not possible to stop Russian President Vladimir Putin, the long-term consequences and costs would dwarf all previous investments.
Union accuses Scholz of failure before the trip to the USA
Update from February 8th, 10:02 a.m
.: More concrete actions instead of purely symbolic politics: Before the Chancellor's planned trip to the USA, the Union accused the federal government of a failure in security policy.
In view of an impending change of course in the US government, Germany and the EU must become more independent of the Western protective power, demanded CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen.
It is “existentially important that Olaf Scholz travels to Washington with clear proof that we have understood: We have to do more for our own security,” said Röttgen to
IPPEN.MEDIA
and called for an expansion of arms production.
Unfortunately, it looks as if “the Chancellor and the EU still have not understood the seriousness of the situation”.
Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden during the Federal Chancellor's visit in March 2023. © IMAGO/Oliver Contreras
Above all, the Union fears a comeback by Donald Trump in the upcoming US election in November 2023. The former US president accuses Germany of insufficient commitment to defense spending and regularly threatens to reduce the USA's protective role in NATO.
Against this background, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is traveling to Washington for 24 hours on Thursday.
A one-hour conversation with US President Joe Biden is also planned.
Scholz's trip to the USA: The Chancellor flies to Washington for a flying visit to President Biden
First report
: Washington, DC - It's about the war in Ukraine and the current situation in the Middle East: Chancellor Olaf Scholz is leaving on Thursday afternoon (February 8th) for a two-day visit to the USA.
According to a government spokesman, the focus of the visit will be a “detailed conversation” with US President Joe Biden on Friday in the White House.
According to information from government circles, a joint press conference is not yet planned.
On Thursday, Scholz will first meet members of the US Congress for dinner.
The leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives as well as important defense politicians were invited, it said.
Washington has so far been Ukraine's most important supporter in the war against Russia.
However, further military aid totaling around $61 billion (almost €56 billion) has been blocked for months by the opposition Republicans in the US Congress.
Scholz supports Biden
Shortly before his trip to Washington, Scholz supported the incumbent US President Joe Biden with a view to the 2024 US elections in November.
“The American President Biden is someone who has worked very hard for the cohesion of American democracy - and that is why I believe that he has a chance,” said the SPD member of the Bundestag on Wednesday in Stahnsdorf near Potsdam during a conversation with citizens citizens in his constituency.
A boy had turned to him: “Good evening, Mr. Chancellor.
My question is what would happen to Germany's security if Trump came to power." Former US President Donald Trump is considered Biden's most likely challenger.
“A really good question,” said Scholz, but added: “I don’t think we should act as if that is already certain.”
Union with demands on Scholz
The Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag has called on the Chancellor to seek clear solidarity with Washington during his visit to the USA.
Scholz must “emphasize in word and deed that Germany is clearly on the side of the USA,” said the foreign policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Jürgen Hardt, to the
AFP
news agency on Tuesday.
“Relief in security policy and a clear renunciation of going it alone in China policy would be a start.”
Scholz had “significantly strained US President Biden’s great patience,” said Hardt.
“The federal government became a transatlantic free rider under the 'traffic light'.” Scholz must now “finally send a clear transatlantic signal.”
(with agency material)