Vladimir Putin’s demonstrative concern for civilians in the Middle East against the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine is the height of cynicism, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
“I am more than angry when the Russian president constantly warns that there may be victims among the civilian population due to an armed conflict. There can be no more cynicism than that,” Scholz emphasized during his speech in the Bundestag.
The European Union should jointly continue financial support for Ukraine, Scholz said. The Chancellor of Germany assured that the situation in the Middle East will not affect the Armed Forces’ support and that Berlin will continue to provide weapons to Kyiv.
Scholz said the new aid package to the Ukrainian military would include air defense systems, including Patriot, Gepard, and IRIS-T.
Putin has repeatedly expressed “concern” about the number of victims after Israel’s response to an attack by the Palestinian Hamas terrorist movement. “Civilian casualties will be absolutely unacceptable,” the Russian president hypocritically declared.
At the same time, the Russian invasion has already taken the lives of nine thousand peaceful Ukrainian men and women. More than 17,000 civilians were injured, and this is only according to official data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The organization emphasizes that the number of victims is much higher because there is currently no access to the occupied territories or places of hostilities.
Cover: Odd Andersen / AFP
