Berlin, 24 Feb. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Friday, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that President Vladimir Putin had failed in his plans and hailed the resilience of Ukrainians.
“Anyone who looks at the last year sees that the Russian president has failed. Vladimir Putin has opted for division and generated the opposite. Ukraine is more united than ever, the European Union is more united than ever”, a- he said in a message. From the video.
In his message, Scholz recalls that for a year there has been an aggression which has caused thousands of innocent deaths in Ukraine and that since February 24, 2022 the world is no longer the same.
The aggression, says Scholz, generated a series of challenges, also for Germany, which, according to the Chancellor, has met them successfully, such as obtaining energy independence from Russia.
“Within a few months we have become energy independent from Russia. We have enough gas and oil and the economy is not in deep recession,” he said.
In addition, he added, Germany showed solidarity, took in more than a million Ukrainian refugees and provided financial, humanitarian and military aid worth 14 billion euros.
“Germany stands firmly with Ukraine, now and in the future. It is not our arms supplies that prolong the war. On the contrary: the sooner the Russian president sees that he will not reach not its imperialist goal, the more likely it is to end the war soon,” he added.
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