German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Sunday that “very quickly Russia’s leaders will feel the heavy price they will pay” for the invasion of Ukraine, as he vowed to increase German military funding. in a special session with legislators.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not going to change his course overnight,” Scholz admitted.
“Yesterday we decided that Germany would give arms to Ukraine for self-defence. Putin’s aggression means we can’t come up with any other response,” he added.
Scholz also revealed that he will raise the share of Germany’s economic output spent on defense to 2% and allocate 100 billion euros ($112 billion) to its armed forces, to modernize and equip better for the country’s military – a significant expansion of Germany’s defense spending.
Scholz also mentioned the package of sanctions against Russia, which he said was unprecedented.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine is “despicable – it violates international law, it cannot be justified”, Scholz said.
“February 24, 2022, marks a turning point in the history of our continent,” he added during a special session of parliament. “The horrific images we saw from Kyiv, in Mariupol, show how unscrupulous [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is. This is so unfair, Ukrainian pain, it’s really close to our hearts. “
Scholz referred to the EU’s decision to remove Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment system and said that “Russian banks and companies will have their financial resources cut off. We will focus on oligarchs in the EU. We have sanctions against Putin and those around him.”
“We need to support Ukraine in this desperate situation and we have done so throughout the past weeks and months, the attack on Ukraine means we are in a new era. As democrats, as Europeans, we stand with you, on the right side of history,” said Scholz.
Germany bans Russia from its airspace: Germany will also close its airspace to Russian planes from 3pm local time (9aET) on Sunday, according to a news release. declare from the Federal Department of Transport and Digital.
The ministry added that humanitarian aid flights, which are exempt from the ban, will initially run for three months.
It saw Germany join a group of developing nations in Europe, closing its airspace to Russian aircraft.
