“Last Warning” to Moscow
Melnyk demands Scholz ultimatum to Putin
2/15/2022 7:06 am
Expectations of the Federal Chancellor are high before Olaf Scholz meets Vladimir Putin. He is supposed to ensure de-escalation in the Ukraine conflict. Should that not succeed, the Ukrainian ambassador believes that tough sanctions should follow.
The Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, demanded that Chancellor Olaf Scholz take a tough stance during his visit to Moscow this Tuesday. “Only a crisp and clear ultimatum to Mr. Putin with a deadline to order his armed hordes back no later than February 16 can still save world peace,” Melnyk told the Funke media group. “Should the Kremlin boss ignore this very last warning, extremely painful preventive sanctions against Russia would have to be introduced step by step the very next day.”
Chancellor Scholz will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time this Tuesday for a long one-on-one meeting. Scholz had already declared during his visit to Kiev on Monday that he wanted to persuade Putin to de-escalate the crisis. The deployment of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers along the Ukrainian border is “incomprehensible”. At the same time, he again warned Russia against an attack on Ukraine and stressed that the EU and the USA had prepared reactions for this eventuality.
Melnyk said the economic sanctions should include a total embargo on imports of oil, gas and coal products and other strategic commodities. Another possibility is the freezing of Russian state assets abroad – including bank accounts -, a complete ban on investments in Russia and extensive personal sanctions against the Russian state leadership and oligarchs. “All cards must finally be on the table. The final end for Nord Stream 2 should not only be publicly confirmed, but also politically decided and legally implemented forever and ever,” said Melnyk.
The additional 150 million euros in German loan guarantees for Ukraine are “a good step forward,” said the ambassador. But this is not sufficient. On Monday, Scholz had promised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj the accelerated payment of 150 million euros from a loan that had already been granted, as well as a new loan of 150 million euros.
A massive Russian troop deployment on the border with Ukraine that has been going on for weeks has fueled fears in Kiev and in the west that Russia could be planning an invasion of the neighboring country. Moscow denies any attack plans.