Chancellor Olaf Scholz is convinced that Germany has not become a party to the war even with the delivery of Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine.

"No, absolutely not," said the SPD politician on Wednesday evening in the ZDF program "What now, Mr. Scholz" to a corresponding question.

Scholz described the deliveries as a clear sign of solidarity with Ukraine and also as a clear message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his “imperialist war” would not be successful.

"Russia must fail in its goal of subjugating Ukraine," he said, which must defend sovereignty and territorial integrity.

At the same time, one must always be careful not to become a party to the war.

"There must be no war between Russia and NATO," stressed the Chancellor.

He will do anything for that.

He again avoided the phrase "Ukraine must win this war."

The federal government promised Ukraine 14 Leopard 2 tanks from Bundeswehr stocks on Wednesday.

Other countries, such as the USA, now also want to supply battle tanks to Kyiv.

"Scholzing": "Germany does the most"

Scholz again defended his deliberative course on arms deliveries.

He never let himself drift here.

Every night people watched TV hoping that the government and the chancellor would keep their cool.

"I can assure them: 'It was like that and it will stay that way.

The term "scholzing" has made the rounds on social media channels for the Chancellor's hesitant approach.

The Chancellor said: "The translation of "Scholzing" is: Germany does most of it."

The Chancellor also contradicted the impression that Germany had isolated itself internationally with its actions.

"There is no loss of trust either," he emphasized. Everyone knows that Germany is making a major contribution to Ukraine. Many allies in Europe and the G7 understand this very well.

The CDU leader Friedrich Merz criticized Scholz's approach to coordination with allies on Wednesday evening in the program "ZDF spezial".

He got the impression that Scholz alone thinks of US President Joe Biden "as the one who plays at eye level, who then makes decisions with him," said Merz.

“It leaves a lot of resentment in Europe.” However, Merz – like the federal government before it – rejected the question of supporting Ukraine with fighter jets or ground troops.

After the decision on the delivery of battle tanks in Ukraine, Scholz hopes for more discipline in the traffic light coalition.

"Perhaps today has also contributed to the fact that some people will think about what they say in the future," he said.

The chancellor also emphasized that there were no differences within the federal government on the battle tank issue.

“The government is completely unanimous in its approach.

And that applies to the Finance Minister (Christian Lindner, FDP) just as much, to say it in advance, as it does to the Economics Minister (Robert Habeck, Greens).” 

In the past few days, the FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann and the Green politician Anton Hofreiter have sharply criticized Scholz and accused him of being hesitant about the battle tank decision.

The chair of the Bundestag Defense Committee, Strack-Zimmermann, called his communication a "disaster".

The SPD parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag, Rolf Mützenich, then accused Strack-Zimmermann of "gasping".

"Ms. Strack-Zimmermann and others talk us into a military conflict," he said.

Scholz supported the statement by Mützenich.

"Rolf Mützenich has expressed himself very clearly and, I think, in a very solidary manner," he says.

The chancellor reiterated that he would take no account of heated debates in his foreign policy.

“The agenda in other capitals is not based on when someone wants to appear on television again.

And that's why I'm quite sure that this will also come to an end.

At least I hope so.”