Merkel urged to prevent Russia from winning the conflict with Ukraine

The West must not allow Russia to win the conflict in Ukraine. This was stated by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 6 February.

She specified that NATO countries should provide military assistance to Ukraine in such a way as to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

"Former US President Joe Biden also showed with his very thoughtful decisions about what is delivered in terms of weapons and what is not, that it is right to think about how we can support Ukraine in such a way that it remains a sovereign democratic state," N-tv television channel quoted her as saying.

Merkel also supported the decision of current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to refuse to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) with Taurus missiles, saying that "there are definitely reasons for this."

Arms rift: Germany's willingness to help Ukraine declines

Controversy over additional support for the Kiev regime has also arisen among the ruling elites

Earlier, on January 30, it became known that only 320 parliamentarians took part in the vote in the Bundestag on the allocation of additional €3 billion in aid to Kiev, which is less than half of the required number of voters, due to which the results were canceled.

The day before, the Bundestag's budget committee had planned to seek approval for additional €3 billion in cash for military aid to Ukraine. According to the committee members, the request was approved by representatives of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the FDP, who noted that there were enough funds in the country's budget for this aid to Kiev. At the same time, the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Green Party abstained from voting.

On the same day, a German MP and deputy chairman of the CDU, Johann Wadeful, said that Ukraine should not count on deliveries of German Taurus cruise missiles until May as long as the old government remains in power. According to him, this is due to the fact that Scholz opposes the delivery of cruise missiles to Kiev. The CDU deputy chairman noted that the German Chancellor is only "creating an image of a peace chancellor", while the likely future head will be more active in helping Ukraine.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.