German chancellor says Berlin has no plan to supply Kiev with fighter jets
Germany says it will not supply Ukraine with warplanes, despite Kiev's constant appeals for more weapons and faster deliveries as a supposed means of enabling it to continue the war with Russia.
"I can only advise against entering into a constant bidding war when it comes to weapons systems," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with the country's Tagesspiegel newspaper on Sunday.
The remarks came soon after Berlin, under pressure from its allies, agreed to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 tanks and drop its opposition to other countries sending theirs.
"If, as soon as a decision [on tanks] has been made, the next debate starts in Germany, that doesn't come across as serious and undermines citizens' confidence in government decisions," Scholz noted.
Immediately after securing the German tanks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alleged that his country needed more heavy weapons from the member states of the Western military alliance of NATO in the face of Russia.
"...We have to speed up events, speed up supplies, and open up new weapons options for Ukraine," Zelensky claimed.
Scholz, however, warned against raising "the risk of escalation," saying, "There is no war between NATO and Russia. We will not allow such an escalation."
The German chancellor added that it was "necessary" to continue speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I will talk to Putin by phone again," Scholz said, adding, "But of course it's also clear that as long as Russia continues to wage war with unabated aggression, the current situation will not change."
The last phone call between the two leaders was in early December.
Earlier this month, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said the extent of NATO's involvement in the war had turned it into an actual military conflict between the Western alliance and Moscow.
Russia maintains that the West's anti-Russian agenda, including its eagerness for inclusion of Ukraine in NATO -- and, therefore, the alliance's expansion right up to Russia's borders -- have forced Moscow to launch the war against Kiev.
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