Macron makes a decisive speech on aid to Ukraine: now it's Scholz's turn
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Recently, French President Emmanuel Macron stopped ruling out sending ground troops to Ukraine. Although good intentions are still far from real actions, it can be said that from this moment on, the countries of united Europe have embarked on the path of possible abandonment of the "strategic ambiguity" they have been professing towards the Russian Federation.
French President Macron, who has repeatedly tried to convince dictator Putin to stop Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has shown with his strong intentions that true defenders of democracy and freedom can be found not only in the UK and some other European countries.
Now the word is up to Germany. After all, it must finally become clear to Berlin that it is impossible to achieve peace with Russia by negotiating with Moscow. And no attempts to appease the Kremlin by making concessions on Ukraine will ever lead to the desired consequences for Europeans. Putin understands only strength, and demonstrating any weakness is only guaranteed to backfire.
In this sense, the epic with the transfer of German Taurus to Ukraine not only shows the unwillingness of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to make bold decisions, but also the lack of understanding by a certain part of the German elite of the extent to which Russia's war in Ukraine threatens the European security system.
Along with nuclear weapons, Taurus long-range cruise missiles are perhaps NATO's most effective weapon, with a devastating effect capable of hitting powerful enemy targets. Scholz is unable to realize that despite all his caution, Russia has long considered Germany an enemy. And his indecision is perceived as weakness, which provokes the Russian Federation to even more reckless intentions and actions.
All of this is happening at a time when Ukraine critically needs Taurus cruise missiles to destroy warehouses, military plants, and airfields in the occupied territories and Russia. Taurus, along with Atacms and Storm Shadows, can radically change the situation on the battlefields with Russian aggressors, but German indecision artificially delays the continuation of the war on the European continent.
Interestingly, before the outbreak of the Great War in 2022, Germany claimed to be the leader of Europe. And one could have hoped that it would be the leader of states that would talk tough with Putin. But this did not happen. Instead, Germany is debating every type of weapon that should go to Ukraine, instead of preparing for Russia's invasion of Europe. The German chancellor continues to maneuver without any concept of what his country will do next.
Olaf Scholz cannot make up his mind, although it is clear that it is high time he did so. At the same time, German restraint is not credited to Scholz. After all, Russia has repeatedly stated that it is at war with NATO. This means that the delivery of Taurus to Ukraine will not change the Kremlin's assessment of the situation. There is no need to worry about this. Moscow's paranoia will continue, and they will continue to believe that they are surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Ukraine needs artillery, spare parts, and further strengthening of air defense at the front and in the rear. But many still do not realize how much Taurus can do for Ukraine. It could be the key to maximizing the benefits on the war fronts. In a sense, Taurus will be a game-changer on the battlefield. In addition, these cruise missiles are not only capable of significantly weakening the effectiveness of Russian troops but also of saving the lives of tens of thousands of Ukrainians.
In this way, Scholz and his entourage are building their political plans and hopes for re-election on the lives of others. They do not think that Germany's credibility among its NATO and European Union allies depends on the chancellor's behavior in the political arena.
Olaf Scholz's method of hesitating, wavering, releasing not entirely reliable information about Taurus, and then finding "arguments" again as to why you can't buy these missiles from him indicates that he is simply stalling for time. It's about the same as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, who has been sabotaging the issue of American assistance to Ukraine for months now.
And all the excuses that say, "Imagine for a minute what will happen if German Taurus missiles hit the center of Moscow and at least one of them breaks through the air defense to the Kremlin," do not stand up to any criticism. Because Ukraine needs Taurus for completely different purposes. And these cruise missiles could deter Putin from escalating the war globally when more weapons from the United States finally start coming to Ukraine again.
The Taurus could be a turning point in the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Scholz is slowly realizing that this decision is unavoidable, but he continues to delay it as long as possible. This is exactly what happened with the transfer of German Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
Former Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor in Angela Merkel's government, Scholz, a "party soldier" of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, warms himself with dreams that he is able to repeat her experience, holding the highest power in the country for 16 years.
Olaf Scholz expressed his real position on Ukraine at the party congress of the European Social Democrats, which took place recently in Rome. There, the Chancellor emphasized the importance of continuing to support Ukraine: "The war in Ukraine will end when Putin withdraws his troops." At the same time, he noted that "We do not want a war between Russia and NATO and we will do everything to prevent it."
From what he said, Scholz believes that by slowing down the delivery of German Taurus missiles to Ukraine, he is preventing a war between Russia and NATO. In reality, however, he is deliberately delaying the time when Putin will withdraw his troops from Ukraine.
This distorted vision of the situation reveals the German chancellor's true position on Ukraine. Scholz is openly demonstrating that he fears Putin and obviously does not trust NATO's promises to protect Germany.
Drifting to Chamberlain's political position in 1938, Olaf Scholz for some reason thinks little about how many Ukrainians have already died between 2014 and 2024. And if he cares about the place he will occupy in history in the future, he should act more decisively.
It seems that Chancellor Scholz is still in the shadow of his predecessor, Angela Merkel. The result of her failed policy was that it made Putin stronger and Germany and the EU more dependent on Russia. Now, instead of intimidating the German people with the fear of war, the Chancellor should demonstrate Germany's readiness for European leadership. This could be a turning point in European history.
Political "Scholzism" leads Germany into a dead end of "political uncertainty" and shows that not all Europeans can unite their joint efforts to counter any violator of international order, criminal and aggressor. Germany could have made a decisive military contribution to the continued existence of a free Ukraine. However, Scholz will not dare to do so.
Russia's war in Ukraine arose because of the different thinking between the West and the rulers of the East. At some point, soon, there may be a final clash between the Russia plus China bloc and the Western world. There should be no illusions about this. The political elites of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China have no desire to agree on the rules of coexistence and mutual respect to live peacefully and cooperate.
For a long time, Putin played the role of a friend to the West. But this was only tactically motivated. China has also taken off the kid gloves that always hid iron fists. The collective West had to abandon all idealistic illusions earlier and realize who they were really dealing with. Therefore, it is impossible to return to the peaceful world of the past, with all its comforts and the prosperity that comes with it, without solving the "Russian question."
Putin has proven that Russia will never be able to accept Western civilizational values. It is not capable of peaceful coexistence with its neighbors. We need to proceed from this when planning what to do with the Muscovites.