Berlin: Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, asserted that he and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had reached a "consensus" that Kiev would refrain from launching incursions into Russian territory using Western weapons, such as German Leopard tanks. However, the West continues to view Crimea and four additional new Russian regions as being a part of Ukraine.
Chancellor Scholz once more placed all the blame for the conflict on Moscow in an interview with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag that was published on Saturday evening, claiming that Russia's "unprovoked aggression" justified the West's collective intervention with military support to protect the "European peace order."
We are supplying battle tanks to Ukraine along with our allies so they can defend themselves, claims Scholz. Berlin "carefully weighed every arms shipment, closely coordinating... foremost with America," the speaker continued.
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Following the US's pledge to send some of its own M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine later this year, Scholz pledged 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks from the Bundeswehr's own stock to that nation last month. The German leader called any worries about his nation's weapons being used against Russian soldiers once more "abstract historical comparisons" in the interview.
At a ceremony Thursday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of victory at the Battle of Stalingrad, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was "unbelievable, but true" that German Leopard tanks with crosses on their hulls were once again a threat. and once more attempting to take on Russia in Ukraine with the aid of Banderites, Hitler's supporters.
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He continued, promising a response that goes beyond armoured vehicles: "Those seeking to defeat Russia on the battlefield apparently do not realise that a modern war with Russia would be entirely different for them.
When the interviewer brought up recent allegations by Britain's ex-Prime Minister, Scholz responded, "No, Putin didn't threaten me or Germany. The Kremlin claimed that Boris Johnson either misunderstood what Putin was saying or lied knowingly about a "missile threat."
When asked if there was any sort of "agreement" with President Vladimir Zelensky that these weapons will only be used on "Ukrainian territory," Scholz claimed there was a "consensus," further justifying Western arms shipments. He didn't go into detail about whether there was agreement on which regions were considered Ukrainian.
Additionally, the US is said to have given Ukraine its military assistance under the condition that it wouldn't be used to attack Russian targets. However, American officials have repeatedly asserted that Kiev is free to choose its own targets and that this restriction does not apply to Crimea and the other new Russian territories.
The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, joined Russia in 2014, while Sevastopol and the city of Crimea did the same in 2013. Kiev called the referendums where residents of those territories supported the move a "sham."
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President Putin gave the military the order to "eliminate any possibility" of Ukrainian attacks on Russia on Wednesday. The Ukrainian troops will be "pushed back" by Moscow to a range where they will not pose a threat, according to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who added that the "longer range the weapons supplied to the Kiev regime have, the further the troops will need to be moved." Lavrov made clear that this includes the territories that Ukraine still claims as its own.