German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed outrage on Tuesday that Russia’s responsibility for the war in Ukraine was not clearly stated in the final declaration of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has relentlessly bombed Ukraine for 1,000 days, he said. “1,000 days in which people have had to suffer for the blind megalomania, for the intention to simply expand his country by force.”
“It will be insufficient if these 20 cannot find clear words on Russia’s responsibility in this matter. I would have liked to have seen something different,” the German chancellor said at the end of the meeting of the 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies in Brazil.
At the same time, Scholz reaffirmed his decision not to send long-range German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. He said Germany is by far the largest supporter of Ukraine in Europe and will remain so, but that it was important “to do everything we do with prudence.”
“In my view, supplying cruise missiles would be a mistake for many reasons,” the chancellor continued, including that it could draw the German military directly into the war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked Germany to provide his military with the Taurus missiles. But Scholz has stood firm, despite calls from his coalition partners, the Greens, and the main opposition group, the centre-right CDU/CSU bloc, in support of a delivery.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a press conference at the end of the G20 summit. Kay Nietfeld/dpa
