German leader Scholz vows more Ukraine aid and defends his phone call with Putin

KYIV, Ukraine — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked him for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The conflict is approaching a pivotal new phase, with the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump taking office next month and potentially determining the trajectory of the war after the president-elect’s pledge to end the fighting, with few details.

Ukraine is sensitive to whether cracks might be appearing in the unity of its Western allies behind helping it against Russia, as Putin banks on outlasting that commitment. Germany is Ukraine’s second-largest military backer after the United States.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby emphasized Monday that the Biden administration’s job is to put Ukraine in the best position of strength to give Zelenskyy leverage when negotiations begin. He underlined that it’s Zelenskyy “who gets to decide if and when he’s ready to negotiate, and he gets to decide what if anything he’s willing to negotiate.”

With the war soon to enter its fourth year, Zelenskyy said he disagreed with Scholz’s call with Putin. Zelenskyy said it could prompt phone calls with other leaders, possibly reducing Putin’s international isolation and legitimizing his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Scholz defended the call, saying he wanted to remind Putin that Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state that should be able to decide its own future. He also stressed that he conveyed to Putin that Ukraine is not alone and that its partners will continue their support.

Germany is a vociferous supporter of Ukraine, but Scholz has refused to budge on two of Zelenskyy’s key requests: supplying German- and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine and inviting it to join NATO quickly.

Scholz, who faces an early election in February, has cast his refusal to send Taurus missiles as part of a “prudent” approach to the conflict that assures Ukraine of strong support without taking the risk of the war escalating into a conflict between NATO and Russia.

“This doesn’t lessen our support, which is very wide-ranging and – it is important for me to say – will remain wide-ranging,” Scholz said in Kyiv.

In a major shift, Zelenskyy signaled Friday that an an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war” in Ukraine.

Some Western nations granted permission in November for Kyiv to carry out long-range strikes with the weapons they have supplied. Following the decision, Putin said Russia launched a strike on Ukraine with an unstoppable intermediate-range ballistic missile dubbed the Oreshnik that he claimed can't be intercepted.

It marked the first time that such a missile was used in the war or in any other conflict.

Scholz has been cautious about talk of fast-tracking NATO membership for Ukraine. He has emphasized the importance of finding a path to peace, which he insists must not be chosen over Ukraine's head.

Germany, a leader in providing Ukraine with air defense systems, has already supplied five IRIS-T systems, three Patriot systems and over 50 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, Scholz said. Another batch of military aid being delivered this month will include another IRIS-T system and more Gepards, he added. More material is to follow in 2025.

Russia has kept up a barrage of civilian areas of Ukraine and its power grid. In recent months, Russia launched 347 missiles of various types against Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.

He pleaded for more Western air defense systems, adding that around 20 critical objects are not protected. He didn’t elaborate.

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Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal. Geir Moulson in Berlin and Colleen Long in Washington contributed.