Olaf Scholz urged on Sunday that peace be achieved “more quickly” in Ukraine as it faces growing pressure at home to end the war.
This In 2022, the conflict began with Russia Entering its third year, the government and the public are facing fatigue due to the ever-falling cost.
This The far-right AfD And the far-left BSW parties – both of which want to end arms deliveries to Ukraine – made huge gains in two regional elections in Germany last week, while Mr Scholz’s coalition parties suffered bruises.
“I believe now is the time to discuss how we can get out of this war situation and achieve peace more quickly,” Mr Scholz told public broadcaster ZDF in an annual summer interview.
Mr Scholz made the comments as a new poll by the ARD Deutschlandtrend ranked him as the most unpopular chancellor for nearly 30 years.
It found that only 16 per cent of Germans were satisfied with Angela Merkel’s broken Traffic Light coalition succeeding her government in 2021, and just 18 per cent approved of Mr Scholz personally. It is the lowest approval score since 1997, when Helmut Kohl was leader.
Among the reasons for Voters who abandoned Mr Scholz for the far right There are perceptions that he is weak on migration and strongly supports Ukraine.
Germany is Second largest contributor of aid to Ukraine After the United States.
Mr Scholz said Russia should attend the next international peace summit on ending the war, after Moscow was excluded from the first.
“It’s important that we make progress,” Mr. Scholz said.
“There will definitely be another peace conference,” he said, “and [Ukrainian] The president and I agree that it should include Russia.
‘Meaningful results’
Leaders and top officials of more than 90 states gathered in Switzerland in June for the first summit hosted by Ukraine, while Russia was not invited.
Kiev Another peace summit is aimed at this year, and Volodymyr ZelenskyThe Ukrainian president said in late July that Russia must be present to achieve “meaningful results”.
Despite his poor poll numbers, Mr Scholz has vowed to seek re-election.
“I certainly expect that the SPD [Social Democratic Party] And in 2025 I will have such a strong mandate that we will also lead the next government,” Mr Scholz told Der Tagesspiegel newspaper.
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