Ukraine, Russia still ‘far from’ peace negotiations, says Scholz
The Hindu
The German Chancellor also said that Ukraine needed massive financial help to rebuild after the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion
Ukraine and Russia are a long way from ending the war through negotiations, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday, adding that President Vladimir Putin still wrongly believed he could dictate the terms of peace.
“The truth is, we are far from negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. Because Putin still believes in the possibility of a dictated peace,” Mr. Scholz said in an address to German lawmakers.
The German Chancellor also said that Ukraine needed massive financial help to rebuild after the devastation wrought by Russia’s invasion while adding that the reconstruction would be a “task for generations”.
Also read:The ‘C’ factor in the Russia-Ukraine war
Citing the U.S. initiative to help western Europe rebuild after World War II, Mr. Scholz said he had invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to participate in the G7 summit starting this Sunday, to “agree on what such a ‘Marshall Plan for Ukraine’ would look like”.
During his visit to the war-scarred Ukrainian town of Irpin last week, Mr. Scholz said he had seen a level of devastation that “reminded me of images of Germany after the Second World War”.
“And like war-destroyed Europe then, Ukraine needs a Marshall Plan for its reconstruction,” he said, ahead of back-to-back summits gathering EU, G7 and NATO leaders in the coming days.
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