German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that the war in Ukraine could drag on for several more years; No one can say whether this war might not even last five years, Scholz said on Friday evening in the eastern city of Chemnitz.
He defended Germany’s military support to Ukraine. Moreover, diplomacy must be cultivated, he added.
However, since the start of the war, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown no signs of moving, he said. A dictated peace is unacceptable, Scholz emphasized: “He cannot get away with this.”
Scholz was a guest on Friday evening at a panel discussion organized by the newspaper Freie Presse (Free Press) entitled ‘Germany under pressure. How can the [government] coalition act under new circumstances?”
According to the information provided, the debate was followed by approximately 200 readers of the newspaper and other invited guests. The discussion was also streamed live on the internet.
Scholz said earlier Friday that discussions with Chinese officials about the war in Ukraine during his recent trip provided a “very important boost” to diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
Scholz emphasized that he agreed with Chinese leaders on the need for peace conferences in Switzerland to discuss the war.
“[Diplomatic efforts are] something that is indispensable in this difficult process, and I am grateful that Germany, and I personally, have also been able to contribute,” said Scholz.
Scholz said the diplomatic effort is “still a plant that needs a lot of water … but it is something that exists and that we cherish.”
Switzerland plans a peace summit on June 15 and 16, to which it wants to invite about 100 countries, including Ukraine.
Russia is not expected to attend, but countries that have friendly ties with Russia, such as China, Brazil and South Africa, could join.
During his visit to Beijing on Tuesday, Scholz agreed with Chinese President Xi Jinping to coordinate “intensively and positively” on the upcoming peace summit and possible further conferences.
But prospects for results are slim: After more than two years of fierce fighting in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday reaffirmed Moscow’s claimed right to rule its neighbor.
The future of western Ukraine is unclear at best, Lavrov told several Russian broadcasters in an interview in Moscow.
Otherwise, there will only be a Ukraine “that is truly Russian, that wants to be part of the Russian world, that wants to speak Russian and educate its children,” he said.
There was no alternative, said 74-year-old Lavrov, who has been Foreign Minister since 2004 and is an ardent supporter and confidant of Putin.
Russia does not want to attack NATO states, as claimed in the West to scare voters, Lavrov said.
“But if they want to push NATO’s borders to our borders, then of course we know how to prevent that in Ukraine,” Lavrov said.
Like other senior members of the leadership, Lavrov said Russia was ready for talks with Ukraine, but only under specific conditions.
There would be no ceasefire during possible negotiations, talks with Zelensky are pointless and Kiev should abandon its peace formula, he said.
In the fall of 2022, Zelensky laid out ten points, including the withdrawal of Russian troops, reconstruction and reparations, and the prosecution of war criminals.
