Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that Western governments are behind the scenes preparing sanctions against Russia in the event of possible aggression against Ukraine. “If there is a military action, it will have high costs,” Scholz said on Friday evening after the cabinet meeting.
“An agreement will then be reached in due course about what we will do then and which individual measures we will take specifically,” he added. “We are now preparing that we can then make this decision in each case specifically,” he said, without giving details.
At the moment, however, all efforts are aimed at avoiding an escalation. The Chancellor once again called on Russia to reduce its troops on the Ukrainian border. Scholz again rejected arms deliveries to Ukraine. When asked whether the traffic light parties were also in agreement on the Nord Stream 2 issue, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) said: “In principle, a government is always in agreement.”