BRUSSELS, Belgium
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Europe must continue to provide strong support to Ukraine to ensure any eventual ceasefire agreed between Kyiv and Moscow lasts.
He made the comments as he
arrived at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
"We must continue our
support with a clear position that a just peace must be possible for
Ukraine," Scholz said.
"That means that Ukraine
can defend its independence and sovereignty, that she decides her own path and
chooses her own leaders, and naturally also that she has a strong army in
peacetime."
Scholz said the debt
package recently agreed by Germany's likely future coalition to allow
increased defense spending is an important part of this plan.
"We will now be able to
do what we must as a big state in the middle of Europe," he said.
Once the debt reform is
cleared by Germany's upper house of parliament, some €3 billion ($3.27
billion) in military aid is expected to go to Ukraine.
This week's gathering in
Brussels will likely be Scholzs last EU leaders' summit. German conservative
leader Friedrich Merz is expected to have replaced him as chancellor by the
time the bloc's next high-level meeting happens in June.
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