2024-03-15 17:17:20
Despite differences, Germany, France and Poland vowed to stand together in supporting Ukraine in its defensive battle against Russia at a three-party summit in Berlin. “All three of us are serious about our support for Ukraine,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday after consultations with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Berlin.
“More than ever, our unity is our strength. And our three states in particular – Germany, Poland and France – have a special responsibility.” Solidarity and joint action are essential to defend peace and freedom in Europe.
Macron emphasized: “We share a conviction: Ukraine is also about our security and our future,” he said. The common will is to support Ukraine for as long as necessary and not to let Russia win its war of aggression. Tusk also said: “We spoke with one voice today, primarily about security issues for our continent, for our countries, and all of this, of course, in the context of the war.”
The meeting was preceded by an open conflict over Ukraine strategy between Scholz and Macron. After the last major Ukraine summit in Paris almost three weeks ago, Macron stated that sending ground troops was an option for him. Scholz contradicted himself several times in the following days. “To put it bluntly: As German Chancellor, I will not send any soldiers from our Bundeswehr to Ukraine,” said Scholz.
Macron then declared during a visit to Prague: “We are certainly approaching a moment in our Europe when it is appropriate not to be cowardly.” Some people understood this as a reference to Scholz, who, unlike France, does not want to deliver cruise missiles to Ukraine. The Chancellor fears that Germany will become involved in the Ukraine war.
The aim of the meeting in Berlin was to counteract the impression of a divided European Union on aid to Ukraine. However, the differences on the issue of ground troops were not resolved. No questions from journalists were allowed at the subsequent press event. Scholz and Macron did not mention the topic in their statements.
Shortly before the meeting, however, they reiterated their different positions. “There is no change in the Chancellor’s stance on this. He has made that clear,” said Germany’s government spokesman just a few minutes before Scholz received the French President with a handshake – but no hug – on the red carpet in front of the Chancellery. “Both have their points of view and it will stay that way. That’s what I’m assuming.”
The evening before, Macron reiterated his position on ground troops on French television. “All of these options are possible,” he said, but at the same time made it clear that he did not see the time for ground troops as having come and that such a deployment was not his wish. We are not relying on escalation and we are not at war with Russia, but we should not let Russia win the war in Ukraine, said Macron.
The focus of the three-party summit was on the similarities. Scholz reiterated that they now want to buy weapons and ammunition worldwide to support Ukraine. “That’s a good improvement.” As a first step, the Czech Republic collected money in 18 countries to purchase 800,000 artillery shells for Ukraine from third countries outside the European Union. Germany wants to contribute around 350 million euros.
The production of military equipment will be expanded, also in cooperation with partners in Ukraine, said Scholz. In addition, a “new capability coalition for long-range rocket artillery” will be founded, said Scholz, without giving details. Macron had already announced a coalition for long-range weapons at the Ukraine summit at the end of February.
Poland’s Prime Minister Tusk’s position on the ground troops issue remained unclear on Friday. At the end of February, at a meeting with his Czech colleague Petr Fiala in Prague, he said: “Poland does not intend to send its troops to Ukraine.” However, he did not comment on what position his government would take if other NATO countries sent troops to Poland’s eastern neighbor and whether that should generally be an option.
A little later, Poland’s Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski took a much clearer stance. “The presence of NATO troops in Ukraine is not unthinkable. I welcome the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron,” he wrote on X last Friday. Because Macron’s proposal means “that Putin is afraid instead of us being afraid before Putin,” Sikorski continued.
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