Germany’s Scholz pledges Ukraine aid in surprise visit

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Germany’s Scholz pledges Ukraine aid in surprise visit

******* Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made an unexpected visit to Kyiv, vowing his country will remain Ukraine’s biggest supporter in Europe and promising delivery of military aid worth 650 million euros ($A1.1 billion).

The visit on Monday, his second since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, signals Germany’s support at a time of uncertainty before President-elect Donald Trump taking the reins at the White House and as Russian forces make territorial gains.

Scholz will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is set to push NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance at a meeting in Brussels this week.

The ******* chancellor’s visit comes a day after ********* Council president Antonio Costa and Kaja Kallas, the ********* Union’s foreign policy chief, visited Kyiv, using the first day in their new roles to send a message of support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Scholz’s arrival also comes as he faces a tough battle for re-election at a snap vote in February after his coalition collapsed in November.

His own record on supporting Ukraine has been under scrutiny both from those who wanted him to do more to help Kyiv and, on the other side, those voters who want Germany to pull back from sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.

As the campaign gets under way, Scholz has pointed to Germany’s status as Ukraine’s second-biggest supplier while also highlighting his “prudence” in working to prevent the war escalating and refusing to deliver Taurus long-range cruise missiles.

“Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe,” Scholz wrote on X on Monday.

At the meeting with Zelenskiy, he said he would “announce further military equipment worth 650 million euros, which is to be delivered in December”.

Zelenskiy criticised Scholz in November for speaking to Russian President Vladimir ****** in what appeared to be the first conversation with the sitting leader of a major Western power in nearly two years.

In that call, Scholz urged ****** to be open to negotiations with Ukraine but the Russian leader said any peace deal should acknowledge Russia’s territorial gains and security demands, including that Kyiv renounce joining NATO.

with AP

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