Germany’s Chancellor must show leadership in relation to Russia – Ukraine envoy

BERLIN, January 11 (Reuters) – Germany’s new Chancellor Olaf Scholz must show more leadership in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and take courageous steps to force the Kremlin to the negotiating table instead of just relying on dialogue, Kiev said Envoy in Berlin to Reuters.

Russia has deployed troops near the Ukrainian border and is demanding that the US-led NATO alliance exclude the admission of the former Soviet state or move further into what Moscow regards as its backyard.

Ukrainian Ambassador Andrij Melnyk said it was dangerous to comply with Russian demands and, on the contrary, Germany should push for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union as soon as possible.

He added that Germany should scrap the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline project in order to bring Russian gas directly into the country, bypassing Ukraine, thereby removing lucrative transit fees.

Ukraine also needs German defensive weapons to keep the Russians from attacking, he said.

“Today we need the personal leadership of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to force (Russian) President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table,” said Melnyk. “That would be a litmus test for the new foreign policy.”

“So far there have been many dialogues with Russia – unfortunately without results – but not enough rigor,” he said.

Melnyk’s comments come the same week that the U.S. Senate will vote on a bill to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2. read more

Critics of the pipeline fear Russia is using it as a geopolitical tool, while proponents say it is a commercial project.

Germany’s new tripartite government is split over the pipeline. Scholz’s Social Democrats, who were in government with Angela Merkel’s Conservatives, support him, since the country is starving for natural gas after the closure of nuclear and coal-fired power plants. But one of their junior coalition partners, the Greens, are against Nord Stream 2.

Scholz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

He previously said Germany was ready to impose sanctions on Russia, but not until aggression is discovered and Nord Stream 2 should not be singled out.

The conflict should be resolved politically and not militarily, said his government, and Berlin supported NATO’s position not to rule out membership, albeit for the foreseeable future.

But Melnyk said the West cannot wait for the Kremlin to attack to impose further economic sanctions, as this would have “fatal consequences” for Ukraine, which lost its Crimean region to Russia eight years ago.

“The mistakes of the past shouldn’t be repeated,” he said. “The new government must take preventive action and take the political decision today to scrap the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline at the bottom of the Baltic Sea.”

Russia denies any plans to attack, saying it is responding to what it calls aggressive behavior by Ukraine and NATO.

Melnyk said Germany was the key to Ukraine joining NATO and urged the new coalition not to “miss this historic opportunity to strengthen security on the European continent”.

Agreeing with Russia to delay or prevent Ukraine’s NATO accession in order to avert immediate conflict is dangerous, he said.

“There should be no lazy compromises with Russia at the expense of the Ukrainians,” he said.

Reporting by Andreas Rinke Writing by Sarah Marsh Editing by Miranda Murray

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