In spite of his Corona infection, Olaf Scholz is working. In a newspaper interview he told Vladimir Putin not to use nuclear weapons. And he commented on Russia’s mock referenda in the areas it occupies in Ukraine.
Berlin, September 28th, 2022 (The Berlin Spectator) — Because he tested positive for Corona, Olaf Scholz isolated himself at his apartment in the chancellery. Since his symptoms are mild, he does conduct online meetings and agreed to an interview with the ‘Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung’ daily. “We will not recognize the results of those mock referenda”, he said, referring to Moscow’s cheap attempt to give its annexation of areas in eastern Ukraine a legal basis.
Nuclear Threat
“We will continue to support Ukraine at an unabated pace”, the German Chancellor told the publication. In regard to the partial mobilization of troops in Russia, Scholz said Vladimir Putin was making “one mistake after another”. The Russian President could end the war immediately, by pulling back his troops and agreeing to talks with the Ukrainian government afterwards, Scholz stated.
In the interview, he was asked whether he believed Putin could carry out his threat to use nuclear weapons. “Who knows?”, Scholz replied. “Like President Joe Biden, I have this to say to Russia: ‘Don’t do it.'”
Quantity and Quality
In the meantime, the Berlin Bundestag was going to deal with weapons deliveries to Ukraine on Wednesday. The Christian Democrats (CDU), former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party, handed in a motion in which it demands an “intensification” of those deliveries “in quantity and quality”. According to the motion, armored weapons systems owned by the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces, should be given to Ukraine.
The CDU also insists on a decision on a delivery of battle tanks, which is something Chancellor Scholz has been rejecting all along. So far, no other Western country has sent Western-made battle tanks to Ukraine either. To them, this would mean crossing a red line with unknown consequences. While critics keep on slamming Scholz for not sending enough weapons to Ukraine, Germany is actually delivering many of them.
Anti-Aircraft Guns
So far, the list includes 30 self-propelled Gepard anti-aircraft guns with 6,000 rounds of ammunition, 3,000 155mm projectiles, flare ammunition, smoke ammunition, a Cobra counter battery radar system, 54 armoured personnel carriers, 53,000 rounds of ammunition for self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 3,000 anti-tank weapons with 900 firing devices, 14,900 anti-tank mines and 500 Stinger air defense systems, just to name a few.