This is signal to Putin not to hope that he can achieve his goal - Scholz on Ukrainian pilots' training on F-16

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this in a video interview with Welt TV channel.

“First of all, this is a signal to the Russian president that he should not hope to achieve his goal by simply waging a war that will last as long as possible. Allies are ready to provide long-term support to Ukraine,” he said.

Scholz also added that Germany doesn't have F-16 aircraft and is focused mainly on providing Ukraine with air defense, armored vehicles and heavy artillery. Thus, there is currently no question of Germany training Ukrainian pilots.

The German chancellor said that it is a priority that partners support Ukraine in its defense. Germany is now the second largest country to provide financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine, as well as arms transfers. The politician mentioned the recently announced package worth EUR 2.7 billion of supplies for this year and next year.

In addition, commenting on Moscow's threats over the aircraft, Scholz noted that they had been made before.

“The important thing is that we act only in coordination with each other, there are no 'national' initiatives, and we make sure that it does not come to an escalation that will lead to a war between Russia and NATO,” he added.

The head of the German government repeated the demand to Russia: To stop the war and withdraw its troops. He urged everyone else not to forget that Russia is trying to incorporate a large part of Ukraine by force of arms. The Kremlin must not succeed in its plans, as it violates the international peace order and threatens peace and security in the world, the politician emphasized.

Answering a question about Ukraine's future membership in NATO, Scholz recalled the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, where a long-term perspective was formed.

“It is clear to everyone that this will not happen in the foreseeable future. This is also because NATO's criteria contain a number of conditions that Ukraine cannot fulfill at the moment,” the chancellor said.

At the same time, he noted that in the future we will have to talk about security guarantees. These guarantees include the question of how much the partners will arm Ukraine in the future. After the war, Ukraine will be equipped with Western-made weapons, the politician said.

Scholz added that security guarantees will have to be discussed later. But, he believes, this is still a long way off.

• On May 22, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said that strikes on the temporarily occupied Crimea would be considered an attack on one of the subjects of the Russian Federation.