SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Scholz urges NATO summit to focus on boosting Ukraine fighting strength
Berlin, June 22 (AFP) Jun 22, 2023
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday urged NATO leaders meeting in Vilnius in July to focus on ramping up Ukraine's fighting capacity during its ongoing counteroffensive against Russia.

A key question to be raised at the gathering on July 11-12 will be the future relationship between Ukraine and NATO, Scholz said.

"We should look soberly at the current situation," Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin, noting that Kyiv "has itself said that a NATO membership is not in the question while Russia is carrying out its war against Ukraine".

"That's why I am putting forward that we focus in Vilnius on what is now an absolute priority -- that is, to strengthen the fighting power of Ukraine."

Parallel to that, Scholz said Germany will work with the G7 and EU partners as well as Kyiv to work out "effective and long-term security commitments".

These will ensure that Ukraine gets sustained military support as well as the necessary economic strength to defend itself against Russian aggression, he added.

The Vilnius talks, he said, will send a "strong signal" of transatlantic cooperation and determination.

Germany, which for years has fallen under the NATO two-percent spending goal will finally meet the target from next year.

"We will ensure that the Bundeswehr finally receives the equipment it needs... also by spending two percent of our GDP on defence for the first time in decades, starting next year," Scholz vowed.

Germany's defence spending has reached only around 1.5 percent in the last years, but Russia's war in Ukraine has sparked a major policy shift in Berlin.

Besides sending armaments to Ukraine, Germany is going on a military spending spree to replenish its worn-out stocks, from fighter jets to tanks to air defence systems.

Ahead of the Vilnius meeting, Scholz also urged Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to end his opposition to Sweden's bid to join NATO.

Sweden should "sit at the summit table" as a new NATO ally, Scholz told the Bundestag.

"And I call on the re-elected Turkish President Erdogan to now clear the path for this, as we all decided together last year in Madrid."


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Perseverance rover cleared for long distance Mars exploration
Possible "superkilonova" exploded not once but twice
Origami style lunar rover wheel expands to climb steep caves

24/7 Energy News Coverage
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion
Physicists map axion production paths inside deuterium tritium fusion reactors
Hybrid excitons speed ultrafast energy transfer at 2D organic interface

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
Philosopher argues AI consciousness may remain unknowable
Climate driven model explores Neanderthal and modern human overlap in Iberia
Economic losses from natural disasters down by a third in 2025: Swiss Re



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.