After Turkey’s approval, NATO officially invited Finland and Sweden. Defense Minister Lambrecht confirms talks to supply Ukraine with Leopard 1 tanks. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war here in the ticker.
4:20 p.m .: According to the Reuters news agency, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier called Volodymyr Selenskyj. A possible Steinmeier visit to Kyiv was also an issue. A few weeks ago, Ukraine caused a diplomatic scandal because a Steinmeier visit to the country had been rejected. At the beginning of May, Selenskyj and Steinmeier called again and cleared up irritations.
2 p.m.: This is the end of the Scholz Pk. Thank you for reading along.
1:58 p.m.: A journalist wants to know what point must be reached for Putin to stop the war. “Nobody knows that. One also wonders who his advisors are and whether they are among the living.” According to the Chancellor, these are “terrible violations of all the rules that we have in common”. “This is a terrible war and it doesn’t make sense from a Russian point of view either. One can only say: let it be.”
1:57 p.m .: “You can trust that the weapons deliveries are going well,” says Scholz. “As soon as the training was finished, the self-propelled howitzers were in Ukraine,” says Scholz.
1:52 p.m .: Now it’s about the gas. Scholz is asked if he fears that Russia will turn off the tap on Nord Stream 1 completely. The Chancellor replies that he has been working with his cabinet since December to answer the question of how to respond to dependence on Russian gas. Many measures have already been taken. “Obviously we hope we are being overly cautious. But we also have to prepare for the difficult cases and we do that.”
1:51 p.m .: Scholz is asked if he can assure that Ukraine will get enough weapons to stop Russia. “We are committed to supporting Ukraine,” replies Scholz.
1:48 p.m .: “We obviously have to assume that Russia has come to terms with the accession of Finland and Sweden,” Scholz reiterated. The summit heard that from Putin.
1:46 p.m .: Scholz is asked how quickly the 300,000 soldiers should be ready for action. “It’s a constant growth that’s already taking place.” The idea that you can plan for a long time has proven to be wrong.
1:44 p.m .: Putin’s statement that NATO is engaged in “imperialism” is simply “ridiculous,” said Scholz.
1:42 p.m .: Scholz believes that the population has definitely arrived, that the “turn of the era” is also “broadly supported and supported” by the population and the logic behind the decisions by the Germans.
1:39 p.m .: A colleague wants to know whether the NATO Founding Act is now obsolete due to the stationing of American soldiers in Europe. “I think we can assume that we are not dealing with an increase in tensions between Russia and NATO,” says Scholz. The NATO Founding Act continues to exist. “Of course, what Russia has done is a blatant violation of these rules.”
1:38 p.m .: Scholz is asked whether the Russian withdrawal from Snake Island also has something to do with western weapons. “I recommend that we all exercise caution when it comes to ratings,” said the Chancellor. The arms deliveries are helping Ukraine to defend itself.
1:37 p.m .: Now the question is whether NATO will continue to deliver battle tanks. “We orient ourselves very much to our partners and in particular to the USA. We will continue to do so,” said Scholz.
1:36 p.m .: The path taken to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine is correct. “We will continue on this course.”
1:34 p.m .: Now it’s about Kaliningrad. There they want to ensure transit traffic, explains Scholz. It is about the traffic of two parts of Russia. You don’t want an escalation. Scholz is also asked about an open letter calling for arms deliveries to be avoided. “I don’t know this letter,” says Scholz.
1:32 p.m .: Scholz is asked whether the Germans should prepare for a loss of prosperity because Germany is giving Ukraine all the support it needs. The Chancellor says: “It was always clear that there would also be consequences for us. That applies to energy, for example. However, the government is working on making dependencies as low as possible. “The difficulties in deliveries will also affect us.”
1:31 p.m .: Scholz has also spoken to the Western Balkan countries again in the past few days. He is confident that North Macedonia’s path to the EU is now paved.
1.30 p.m .: “Of course the topic of Ukraine also concerned us here,” said Scholz. For the first time it was possible to talk bilaterally again. Scholz also praised Spain as the host.
1:29 p.m .: “We will continue to expand our contribution on land, at sea and in the air.” They offer to set up a leadership command in Rostock. The Bundeswehr should also provide an armored division.
1:28 p.m .: Scholz announces: Germany will assume leadership responsibility, provide 60 aircraft and 15,000 soldiers for the NATO intervention troops.
1:27 p.m .: NATO draws “the right conclusions” from Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The aggressive policy “represents a threat again,” said Scholz. Therefore, the new basic strategy was decided.
1:26 p.m .: In this world it needs “friends. According to the motto. All for one, one for all. That’s NATO and that’s a good feeling.”
1:25 p.m .: Now Chancellor Scholz speaks. He also draws a conclusion from this summit. “Concern about security in Europe is greater than it has been for a long time.”
1:23 p.m .: They want to bring grain by ship and by train from Ukraine, says Stoltenberg. This closes the Pk. Thank you for reading along!
1:21 p.m .: Now it’s about the strategy against hunger. “The important thing is that we meet and coordinate to bring more grain to the world market,” says Stoltenberg. And it is by no means the case that the food crisis was triggered by Nato sanctions, but “because of Putin’s war.”
1:20 p.m .: You support Ukraine, but you are not a party to the conflict yourself, Stoltenberg affirms. “Moscow should know very clearly that we are ready. There must be no miscalculations. If Russia takes any step towards NATO, we would not allow it.”
1:19 p.m .: “We live in a more dangerous world than before,” said Stoltenberg. The cold war is continuing in Europe. “We know it can get worse,” warns the Secretary General – namely when there is a war between Russia and would become NATO.
1:17 p.m .: The Spanish press wants to know how good the Spanish host was. “Excellent,” says Stolgenberg in praise. We are “extremely grateful” that we were able to hold this historic summit in Madrid.
1.15 p.m .: Stoltenberg explains again why it was decided to expand the joint budget planning. According to Stoltenberg, a more insecure world needs a larger budget.
1:14 p.m .: Stoltenberg is asked whether he supports tank deliveries to Ukraine. NATO is already delivering a lot to the eastern flank, says the Secretary General. “Ukraine needs modern, heavy weapons of NATO standard. That is a message from this summit.”
1:13 p.m .: Peace has been made for 70 years. “If that remains our principle, no member country will be attacked. “Our main task is to prevent war.”
1:11 p.m .: A Swedish colleague wants to know whether the inclusion of Sweden and Finland will affect the differences of opinion within the organization. “NATO was and never will be a monolithic organization, we have 32 countries with different opinions,” said Stoltenberg. “But that is an expression of strength, not weakness.”
1:09 p.m .: Stoltenberg is asked what he says about Putin’s threats to station weapons on the borders with Finland and Sweden if they are in NATO. “President Putin must end this war immediately,” says Stoltenberg. Both countries are sovereign nations and have decided to join NATO. But he takes note of the messages from Moscow.
1:08 p.m .: Europe, the USA and NATO stand side by side, according to Stoltenberg. The West is closed like never before. They will meet in Vilnius next year. This marks the end of Stoltenberg’s statement and the question and answer session opens.
1:07 p.m .: The export of grain from Ukraine was also an issue. There had been discussions about how this “worldwide challenge” could be tackled.
1:06 p.m .: They want to exchange secret service information in the future. A concept for Mauritania and Jordan was also negotiated.
1:05 p.m .: On the second day, Africa and the Sahel zone were dealt with. According to Stoltenberg, terrorism threatens the security of all alliance partners.
1:04 p.m .: Let’s go, Jens Stoltenberg is here. He says: “We have made far-reaching decisions”. Sweden and Finland have been included, a new policy has been adopted and climate change has been addressed.
12.14 p.m .: NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg wants to comment on the deliberations of the NATO countries at noon. We report in the live ticker.
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