German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he supports Chancellor Olaf Scholz's decision to hold a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite criticism from NATO allies and Kiev, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“There are currently no peace talks with Putin, and at the same time we must support Ukraine“, the minister told public broadcaster ADR this evening.
Less than 48 hours after the phone call on Friday, Pistorius said Putin had demonstrated “what he thinks about peace talks or a ceasefire“.
“He is bombing Ukraine's civilian infrastructure from the air in a way we haven't seen for a long time”, he said, referring to the massive Russian strikes on the country's energy grid this morning.
Meanwhile, Scholz is facing increasing pressure from his own Social Democratic Party to clear the way for Defense Minister Pistorius to run for chancellor, the party's nominee, in the upcoming parliamentary elections, DPA reported.
Joe Weingarten and Johannes Arlt became the first Social Democratic Party of Germany MPs to publicly support Pistorius, who is significantly more popular than Scholz in opinion polls, to run for chancellor.
“My clear opinion is that we should campaign with Boris Pistorius“, Weingarten told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung“ yesterday.
Shortly afterwards, Arlt told the “Tagespiegel“ that “Boris Pistorius would be an excellent candidate for chancellor for the SPD - in my opinion he would be ideal to lead the party in the election campaign“. Arlt added that Pistorius holds “the most difficult ministerial post“ and is able to “explain political decisions to the people in simple and clear terms“.
Sholz announced his intention to run again for the post in July, months before the collapse of the ruling coalition last week, which set the country on the path to early elections, which will most likely take place in February instead of September.
The chancellor stood firm behind his plans. “The SPD and I are ready to enter this debate, among other things with the aim of winning,“ he said before flying last night to Brazil, where the G20 summit will be held.
The party leadership and Pistorius himself have repeatedly assured Scholz of their support.
“Olaf Scholz is the chancellor. And everyone in charge in the SPD has made it clear in recent days that we stand behind him," SPD co-chair Lars Klingbeil said on Saturday.
“We have a truly exceptional chancellor who, in one of the most difficult moments in the history of the republic, took the reins in a complex constellation of three parties,“ Pistorius himself told public broadcaster ADR, confirming his support for Scholz.
Pistorius said the task now was to achieve a good result in the elections, which are expected to be held on February 23: “That is all that matters and we certainly won't achieve that if we start arguing about the chancellor candidate in the coming weeks.”
However, Scholz's approval rating has been below 20% for weeks and the SPD is currently trailing the conservative CDU/CSU bloc in polls by 16-18 percentage points.
Scholz confirmed Germany's unwavering support for Ukraine yesterday, assuring that no decision on the outcome of the Russian-led war would be made without Kiev, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
“Ukraine can count on us“, this is “the principle that prevails, and no decision will "will be taken over Ukraine's head," the chancellor said at Berlin airport before leaving for the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Sholz praised Friday's phone call with the Russian president, his first in almost two years. "It was important to tell him that he should not count on the support of Germany, Europe and many other countries in the world for Ukraine weakening," the German leader explained.
Donald Trump's promises to end the war in Ukraine, without explaining how, also justify this diplomatic gesture, Scholz said, adding that "it would not be a good idea if discussions were held between the American and Russian presidents in the near future without the head of a major European country," in this case Germany, "also holding such talks."
The phone call sparked anger in Kiev, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticizing Scholz for opening a "Pandora's box." Ukraine "legitimately defends its independence and sovereignty" and can count on "many friends around the world, especially Germany," which is Ukraine's biggest supporter in Europe, including in terms of military aid and arms supplies, the German chancellor said today.
He said his conversation with Putin "showed that the Russian president has hardly changed his mind about this war, which is not good news." The German chancellor is weakened, now that he is deprived of a majority in parliament. However, he wants to run for a second term in the early parliamentary elections in Germany in February, as he confirmed today, despite calls from his own party to cede his seat to the popular Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, AFP reports.
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is the candidate for chancellor of his Green party in the country's next parliamentary elections, said today that he would send Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine if he heads the government in Berlin, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Habeck, who is also Vice Chancellor in Olaf Scholz's government, was asked in an interview with the public media outlet ADR whether he was against the current Chancellor's decision not to send long-range missiles to Kiev. He said that as economy minister he had made decisions on arms deliveries on several occasions.
“This is part of my job and these were some of the most difficult decisions I have ever made,“ he said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly asked his allies for long-range missiles so that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can strike Russian logistics centers and military bases far beyond the front line and within Russia's internationally recognized borders.
Scholz explains his decision not to send Taurus missiles including the fact that this would allow Ukraine to strike targets in the Russian capital Moscow.
Permits issued by the German government for the export of arms and military equipment appear to be on track to set a new record, according to the latest figures cited by DPA and BTA.
The information is based on a response to a parliamentary question posed by a member of parliament from the left-wing, populist “Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance“.
The response from the Ministry of Economy shows that 4,163 export permits worth 10.9 billion euros had been issued by October 15. The permits for two-thirds of the value, or 7.2 billion euros, were for weapons.
The total for the whole of last year was 12.2 billion, or just 1.3 billion more than the amount by mid-October this year.
The inquiry in parliament was submitted by the representative of the new party in the German Bundestag - the “Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance“, Sevim Dagdelen. The party, which split from the far-left “The Left“ in January, is led by Sarah Wagenknecht, who has described her political ideology as “left-wing conservatism“.
The increase in arms export permits can mostly be attributed to Ukraine. In the first half of the year, exports of military products worth 4.9 billion euros were approved, according to information previously released by the ministry.
In coalition negotiations in late 2021, the ruling center-left coalition reached an agreement to limit arms exports and adopt new legislation in this direction, but the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022. led to a radical change in policy.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz lifted the ban on arms exports to a war zone in a speech on February 27, 2022, and that year Germany exported more weapons than ever before.
Dagdelen sharply criticized the continued growth in exports, saying that the outgoing government had achieved nothing more than acting as an extension of the German arms industry.
Soon elections are scheduled for February after Scholz's government collapsed earlier this month.