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Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (February 2024)

Photo: Pier Marco Tacca / Getty Images

Shortly before his departure for Washington, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) called on the USA and the Europeans to support Ukraine together. The EU and its members are Kiev's largest financial supporters with 84.4 billion euros ($91 billion), writes Scholz in an article published on Thursday in the US newspaper "Wall Street Journal". He also points out that Germany has provided or firmly promised military aid to Ukraine totaling 28.3 billion euros ($30.3 billion) since the start of the war.

Before his visit to Washington, the reference to the numbers is intended to help dispel criticism in the US Congress that Europe is not doing enough to support Ukraine. On Wednesday, another attempt by US President Joe Biden to get his billion-dollar military package for Ukraine through Congress failed. "Our message is clear: We are doing our best to prevent Russia from winning the war," writes Scholz.

Scholz writes that the West must signal Putin's willingness to defend himself

In the article, the Chancellor also underlines how important transatlantic cooperation is in NATO. The background is fears that a possible election winner Donald Trump in the US presidential election could deprive Europeans of US military protection. However, Scholz warned on Wednesday evening not to expect the US Republican to win. Biden has a good chance. In the article he emphasizes that NATO is not a belligerent in Ukraine and is not at war with Russia. As a message to the Americans, he also points out that the federal government wants to spend two percent of economic output on defense from now on, support Lithuania with an extra brigade and organize a European air defense system. The sooner Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that the West is prepared to defend itself in the long term, the faster the war in Ukraine can end.

The Chancellor wants to meet with members of Congress in Washington on Thursday evening. On Friday, his program includes a visit with US President Biden and a meeting with American business representatives.

aka/Reuters