German Chancellor: response to Russia will be ‘united, decisive’ if it attacks Ukraine

Newly appointed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says that the response to Russia will be united and decisive if the country decides to invade Ukraine. 

 

He also stated that Germany is the strongest economic supporter of Ukraine. 

 

“And we will continue to be. … It is approximately 2 billion U.S. dollars so far, [in the past 7 years]. … We are working together in renewable energies and future technologies that are important for giving Ukraine … the chance for having more economic and financial resilience,” he said amid criticism over Germany’s response to the crisis.

 

Olaf has answered the public criticism over sending 5,000 helmets to Ukraine but no weapons. 

 

“First, it was Ukraine that put in the request to send helmets, and we reacted to that. Second, there are strict export criteria we are following on the export of weapons into crisis regions,” the chancellor stated,noting that there is a long continuity of German export restrictions on weapons, which has been handled by the former government.