As of: March 15, 2024, 3:38 p.m
By: Florian Naumann, Stefan Krieger
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Chancellor Scholz, President Macron and Prime Minister Tusk meet in Berlin.
The focus: The Ukraine war and bilateral tensions.
Update from March 15th, 3:33 p.m.:
Olaf Scholz is under pressure in the Weimar Triangle - but apparently does not want to change his positions on NATO ground troops in Ukraine and Taurus deliveries at the meeting with Emmanuel Macron and Donald Tusk.
“There is no change in the Chancellor’s attitude towards this.
He made that clear,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit shortly before Scholz and Macron’s opening meeting.
Scholz received the French President with a handshake - but no hug - on the red carpet in front of the Chancellery.
Tusk has now also joined the group.
The three-way talks started with military honors.
Donald Tusk, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz (from left) in front of the Chancellery - the “Weimar Triangle” started with military honors.
© Christoph Soeder/dpa/picture-alliance
The Polish Prime Minister declared at the end of February that Poland had no intention of “sending its troops to Ukraine.”
Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, however, emphasized a little later: “The presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is not unthinkable.” Sikorski also took a sharp swipe at Scholz in the debate about the German wiretapping scandal.
Update from March 15, 12:35 p.m.:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron to the Chancellery.
The two politicians will meet before the meeting in the “Weimar Triangle” – Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk will join them later.
Macron spoke in detail about the war in Ukraine on French television on Thursday evening (March 14).
On the channels
France 2
and
TF1
, he once again did not rule out the use of ground troops in Ukraine, but did not reveal any details.
We should ask Vladimir Putin what a possible reason for such an operation could be, explained Macron.
“If Russia won, the lives of the French would change,” he warned.
Emmanuel Macron (left) and Olaf Scholz on Friday in Berlin.
© Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa
Scholz alone in the “Weimar Triangle”?
Poland insists on Taurus – Macron renews ground troops advance
Update from March 15, 9:45 a.m.:
Before the explosive meeting of the "Weimar Triangle", Poland is increasing the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz: He expects a sign of unity against Vladimir Putin's Russia, explained Ambassador Dariusz Pawlos in the
ARD
"Morgenmagazin" - at the same time he supported calls for the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Scholz has so far strictly rejected this.
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“We know 100 percent: Ukraine also needs Taurus cruise missiles,” Pavlos said.
He hopes that Scholz will “show courage and look for a solution to supply appropriate systems and ammunition.”
French President Macron – the third member of the “triangle” – also recently called for “courage” in the conflict with Russia.
It is a “decisive phase of this war” and a time in which “we all have to have the courage to achieve something more,” emphasized Pawlos.
Above all, Ukraine currently needs ammunition.
At the same time, Pawlos admitted that Germany was doing everything it could.
Nevertheless, “we can always do more,” he added.
Weimar Triangle with Scholz: Macron confirms ground troop advance for Ukraine
Preliminary report:
Berlin - It's about the Ukraine war - but also about getting rid of certain tensions in the bilateral relationship between Germany and France.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will meet in Berlin on Friday (March 15, 2 p.m.).
The meeting of the so-called Weimar Triangle will focus on support for Ukraine in the fight against the Russian attack.
Before the three-way meeting, Scholz will first receive Macron for a bilateral conversation in the Chancellery (12 p.m.).
There had recently been open disagreements between Berlin and Paris over Ukraine policy.
Macron and Scholz criticized each other in public several times - without calling each other by name, but certainly with sharp words.
France's President criticizes the Chancellor's refusal to deliver Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.
With regard to France, Scholz had repeatedly emphasized that Germany provides the largest share of military aid to Ukraine within Europe and other countries provide significantly less.
Weimar Triangle
The Weimar Triangle is a foreign policy forum in which Germany, France and Poland coordinate on cross-border, European policy and international affairs.
It was founded at a meeting of the then foreign ministers of the three countries (Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Roland Dumas and Krzysztof Skubiszewski) at the end of August 1991 in Weimar, Thuringia.
Macron still does not rule out ground troops in Ukraine
Before his meeting with Scholz, the French president reiterated that he was not ruling out sending Western ground troops to Ukraine.
“All of these options are possible,” Macron told television channels
TF1
and
France 2
on Thursday evening . “To achieve peace in Ukraine, you cannot be weak.” You have to look at the situation soberly.
“And we must say with determination, will and courage that we are prepared to use the means necessary to achieve our goal of ensuring that Russia does not win the war.”
The talks come almost three weeks after the remarkable Ukraine conference in Paris, which Macron organized and which ended in a scandal.
At the subsequent press conference, Macron did not publicly rule out the use of ground troops for the first time, whereupon Scholz publicly contradicted this several times.
“To put it bluntly: As German Chancellor, I will not send any soldiers from our Bundeswehr to Ukraine,” said the SPD politician.
Macron then explained during a visit to Prague: “We are certainly approaching a moment in our Europe in which it is appropriate not to be cowardly.” Some people took this as a reference to Scholz, who, unlike France, did not launch cruise missiles Ukraine wants to deliver.
The Chancellor fears that Germany will become involved in the Ukraine war.
“Very good personal relationship” between Scholz and Macron
Scholz described his relationship with Macron as “very friendly,” despite all the differences in Ukraine policy.
He could assure "that it is different than what many people think: Emmanuel Macron and I have a very good personal relationship - I would call it very friendly," he said.
How Macron and Scholz want to reach a common denominator is unclear.
Scholz has made it clear that his rejection of ground troops is an immovable red line.
Before his visit to Berlin, Macron confirmed that he sees things differently.
Since Russia is not setting any limits on its war of aggression against Ukraine, the West does not have to impose any limits on its support for the country in advance, he said.
“The only one who would be responsible is the regime in the Kremlin, that is not us,” the president said.
“We will never lead an offensive, we will never take the initiative, France is a power of peace.”
“If Russia won, the lives of the French would change.
We will no longer have security in Europe,” said the French president.
One cannot seriously believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has not adhered to any borders, would stop after a victory in Ukraine.
“Wanting peace today means not letting Ukraine fall.”
(skr/dpa/AFP)