Volodymyr Zelensky with Olaf Scholz in Berlin earlier this month.
Photo: Shutterstock
German chancellor Olaf Scholz has rejected Ukraine’s request to swiftly join Nato, dismissing a key pillar of the “victory plan” presented by Volodymyr Zelensky to Western leaders earlier this month.
In comments that ‘The Telegraph’ understands have irritated NATO allies, Mr Scholz bluntly ruled out Ukrainian membership in the near future, insisting that no country can join the Western alliance while it is at war.
He also repeated his refusal to provide Kyiv with Germany’s long-range Taurus missiles and expressed fears that stronger support of Ukraine risked dragging his country into a direct conflict with Moscow.
While Mr Scholz claimed his position was shared by all Nato allies, a Nato source said the overall tone of the interview was unhelpful, appeared naive and was possibly using the war in Ukraine as a political football to help the chancellor get re-elected in elections next year.
Mr Scholz is under intense pressure at home to appease German voters who are increasingly weary of the war in Ukraine, with the Kremlin-friendly AfD party gaining more and more influence in the former Communist East.
Rafael Loss, a German defence and politics expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said Mr Scholz was likely trying to project an image of himself as a “besonnen” leader ahead of federal elections next year, referring to the German word for prudence and clear-headedness.
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