German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the war in Ukraine could last until 2025 and assured that aid would continue to be given to that country and would increase even further.
“This war will probably not end as quickly as we would like,” Scholz said during a speech at the Congress of the Social Democratic Party (SPD, after its German acronym), which started in Berlin on Friday.
For example, the official said it is necessary to continue supporting Ukraine “this year, the next and the year after that.” Even though you admit it This aid represents “a major financial challenge” for Germanypromised to continue to support Kiev in its defense against Russia, with money and weapons.
Scholz reminded that Germany is the second country that contributes the most to supporting Ukraine, after the United States. “If other states falter, our contribution may have to be even greater,” he stressed.
The coalition government of Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals, led by Scholz, is facing a budget crisis following a Constitutional Court decision that left a 17 billion euro hole in the 2024 budget. Scholz assured, however, that aid for Ukraine will not be cut.
This comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Ukrainians to prevent Russia from regaining the initiative on the battlefield this winter, at a time when Russian forces are intensifying their attacks on the eastern front.
“The task of our state, even now, in the winter, however difficult it may be, is to show strength and not allow the enemy to take the initiative, not allow him to gain a foothold gets land.’, he emphasized in a message to the nation on Friday evening.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported yesterday that Russian forces launched dozens of attacks on Friday in various sectors of the front line, mainly near the cities of Avdiivka and Marinka in eastern Ukraine.
According to the Ukrainian war report, all attacks, including 35 in the Avdiivka zone and 24 in the Marinka zone, were repulsed.
In the Avdiivka sector alone, the Russian army has deployed “about 40,000 troops, or even slightly more,” Tavria military group spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun told Ukrainian television.
“The enemy is suffering significant losses: between 300 and 400 men every day. The Russian occupiers have not yet reduced their infantry activity,” he said.
Zelenska speaks of ‘deadly danger’ if the aid ends
The wife of Ukraine’s president, Olena Zelenska, warned that if Western financial aid ends, Ukrainians will face “deadly danger,” according to an excerpt of an interview released by British broadcaster BBC this Sunday. are broadcasted.
“When the world gets tired, they will just let us die,” Olena Zelenska said, after Republicans in the United States Senate blocked a $60 billion (€55 billion) aid package for Ukraine. “We really need help. In simple words, we cannot get tired of this situation because if we do, we will die,” Zelensky’s wife said.
The interview was recorded after Republicans blocked passage in the US Senate on Wednesday of a budget bill worth about $105 billion (about 97.5 billion euros), which included aid for Ukraine and Israel. “It pains us immensely to see signs that the passionate desire to help could disappear,” the Ukrainian first lady lamented, adding that for Kiev it is a “matter of life.” [ou morte]”.
Source: DN
