Putin’s invasion has shattered dreams of progress, German chancellor says

He advised Brennan: “And this agreement is now canceled by Putin.”

Scholz mentioned Putin was a throwback to these leaders who noticed conquest as an indication of a nation’s greatness.

“What is Putin thinking of? He is thinking like the imperialists in the 17th, 18th, 19th century,” he mentioned. “He is thinking that all about the nation is power, and that if you are mighty enough, you can just take territory of your neighbors. And this is an activity and an idea we cannot accept and we will not accept.”

Russia’s invasion has, particularly, modified the dynamics in Europe, together with main Finland and Sweden to hitch NATO. The German chancellor additionally mentioned Putin’s actions compelled Germany to regulate its longtime worldwide insurance policies.

“We took a very, very hard decision to change political strategies we followed for many decades — never to deliver weapons into a country that is in a conflict,” he mentioned.

Going ahead, Germany will strategy its worldwide position otherwise, attempting to turn out to be extra nimble within the face of a disaster, he mentioned.

“We are changing the way how we spend money for defense,” Scholz mentioned. “And this is the big increase which will change the situation and will give us the chance to be more quick in reaction to a threat that is coming to NATO, the alliance, or to our country.”

For Russia, Germany was the archenemy from World War II, when Adolf Hitler’s forces invaded in June 1941 and left at the least 20 million Soviet residents lifeless. In latest years, although, Germany had turn out to be depending on Russian vitality — a lot too dependent in accordance with Scholz.

“It was not right that we were not prepared to have at any time the chance to change the one that is delivering gas, oil and coal to us,” Scholz mentioned. “So we should have invested all over Europe in infrastructure that gives us the ability to change the supply from one day to the other. And I think this is the lesson that has been learned in Europe and in many other places that you have to be prepared — be prepared for a situation like this.”

Looking ahead, Scholz advised Brennan that he noticed a world the place there are a lot of facilities of energy.

“I think the world we are going to live in 2050 will be multi-polar,” he mentioned. “Many countries will be important. The United States, Russia, China, the European Union and the countries in this Union, but also Indonesia and India, or South Africa, countries from the south of America. And the big task of all of us is to make this work.”

But, in accordance with Scholz, the struggle in Ukraine will cease provided that Putin decides he should cease it.

“The conflict will end when Putin understands that he will not be successful with idea to conquer part of the territory of his neighbor,” he mentioned.