German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday, the 17th of February, that he wanted to see a strong and sovereign Europe before heading to the hastily organised talks in Paris, which were announced after tumultuous Munich security conference, when the US administration’s stance on Ukraine shocked European allies and the US signalled that it no longer wanted Europe to be part of ending the Ukraine conflict, reports Reuters.
Scholz will join the leaders of France, Britain, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, as well as senior NATO and European Union (EU) officials, to discuss changes in the US approach to Ukraine and risks to European security.
“We must ensure that Europe meets the challenges of the future with strength, sovereignty and a straight back,” Scholz told reporters at a campaign event in Kassel before heading to the French capital.
“I am confident that we will be able to develop a clear position,” Scholz said.
A GERMAN GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON TOLD REPORTERS THAT NO CONCRETE RESULTS WERE EXPECTED FROM THE MEETING.
Addressing the question of whether German troops could be deployed in a possible peace mission in Ukraine, Scholz stressed the importance of a strong Ukrainian army.
“This will be a major challenge for Europe, the US and the international alliance partners,” the German leader said, adding that further questions on the security architecture would be addressed in due course.
“If given the framework, Germany will not shy away from it,” a defence ministry spokesman said at a press conference in Berlin on the issue of ground forces.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Monday he would not send troops to Ukraine, adding that “we … will provide logistical and political support to those countries that may in the future wish to give such guarantees, physical guarantees”.
“Poland will support Ukraine as it has done so far: organisationally, according to our financial capabilities, with humanitarian and military aid,” Tusk told reporters before boarding a plane to Paris.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Sweden would consider helping with a post-war peacekeeping force in Ukraine, but added that negotiations would have to make progress before such a decision could be taken.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told Swedish radio on Monday that a just and sustainable peace that respects international law should come first.
“Once such a peace is established, we must ensure that it can be maintained and then our government will not rule anything out,” she said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer became the first European leader to announce that he was ready to send peacekeepers to Ukraine.