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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he is convinced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not succeed in his pursuit of Ukraine.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the government leader said “Putin has failed in all his strategic goals” and the conquest of Ukraine is “further away than at the start of the war”.
“Our goal is crystal clear: Putin must not win this war. And I am convinced that he will not win,” said Scholz, who called on other government leaders to join a united front to further isolate Russia. He mainly referred to the emerging countries in Asia, Africa and South America that have so far refrained from criticizing the invasion.
In an effort to break that pattern, Scholz has invited government leaders from India, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal and Argentina to the G7 industrialized nations summit in Elmau, Germany next month. “That summit should make it clear to Putin: peace is not being dictated. Ukraine will not accept that and neither will we.”
According to the chancellor, Putin wants to return to a world in which “the law of the strongest applies and in which not everyone is assured of freedom, independence and self-determination. We call that imperialism”.
He believes that the Russian invasion threatens not only the existence of Ukraine as an independent nation but also the international legal order based on international cooperation.
Putin will only end his military campaign if he realizes he cannot break through Ukraine’s defences, Scholz said. “That’s why we support Ukraine.”
