Germany vows continued military support for Ukraine

BERLIN

Germany on Friday pledged further military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Germany will continue to deliver weapons to Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at the final Social Democratic Party rally in the western city of Cologne, only two days before the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Russia is waging a "brutal war of aggression against an innocent neighbor solely to expand its own power and expand its own territory. Revanchism and imperialism must not determine reality in Europe," German Press Agency (dpa) quoted Scholz as saying.

Germany will continue to deliver weapons to Ukraine, he added.

In Russia it has not yet been understood that peace will not be possible if Moscow takes a piece of Ukraine by military force, but only "with an understanding, an agreement, a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia," said Scholz, adding, "We will not accept a dictated peace for Ukraine."

According to Scholz, Germany is obliged to help Ukraine but that must not lead to a military confrontation between NATO and Russia.

On Friday, the chancellor also spoke via phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in weeks.

Germany has provided financial and military aid to Ukraine since the start of its war with Russia on Feb. 24.