DGermany, France and Poland have demonstrated unity in the Ukraine crisis. “Our common goal is to prevent war in Europe,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on Tuesday evening at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Head of State Andrzej Duda in Berlin. “We all have one goal in common: to maintain peace in Europe – through diplomacy and through clear messages and the common willingness to act as one.”
The deployment of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine is “very worrying,” said Scholz. “Another violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty is unacceptable and would have far-reaching consequences for Russia – politically, economically and certainly also geostrategically,” warned the Chancellor.
Berlin, Paris and Warsaw therefore wanted to work together “to de-escalate the extremely tense situation,” said Scholz. “We need negotiations and a solution.” Macron said Germany, Poland and France have the clear goal of preventing a war in Ukraine. Dialogue with Russia is “the only way that will allow us to ensure peace in Ukraine”.
Avoid war, secure peace
Duda said the meeting with Scholz and Macron shows that there is “the will” in the EU to seek a solution to the Ukraine crisis. “We must find a solution to avoid war,” said Duda. “I think we’ll make it.”
Macron had made a stopover in Berlin on the return journey from visits to Moscow and Kiev. In Moscow, Macron said he had received assurances from Russian President Vladimir Putin that he would refrain from further escalation in the Ukraine conflict. At a meeting in the Kremlin, Putin assured him that there would be “neither a deterioration nor an escalation,” Macron said.
According to Western sources, Moscow has massed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine. This fuels fears that Russia could be preparing an attack on the neighboring country. Russia denies this and at the same time claims that it feels threatened by NATO. Moscow is demanding extensive security guarantees from the military alliance and the USA, but so far without success.