Peace agreement should not be imposed on Ukraine - Scholz
Photo: Olaf Scholz, German Chancellor (Getty Images)
An agreement to end a full-scale war should not be imposed on Kyiv. Ukraine should have a larger army in the future than before the outbreak of hostilities, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says to The Guardian.
“The next task is to ensure that there is no dictated peace,” Scholz said and added that NATO's unity must ”always be guaranteed.”
He also emphasized that, in his opinion, no decision can be made without the participation of the United States.
At the same time, the chancellor denied the possibility of sending German troops to Ukraine at this stage, as it is not yet clear under what conditions Ukraine will be ready to sign a peace agreement.
Scholz emphasized that even after peace is achieved, Ukraine should be able to develop, in particular by creating more powerful armed forces equipped with modern Western weapons.
Trump's calls to Putin and Zelenskyy
On December 12, US President Donald Trump held talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin, after which the White House chief executive also called Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
During a speech to the media in the Oval Office of the White House, Trump said that it was unlikely that Ukraine would return to the borders of 2014.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, while on a visit to Ukraine, emphasized that Trump is interested in ending the war as soon as possible. He also announced a planned agreement to strengthen the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States.
Commenting on Trump's phone call with Putin, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte suggested that it could indicate the beginning of a negotiation process on Ukraine.
