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image source, Reuters/Annegret Hills
President Macron (left) arrived in Berlin on Friday after a television interview in which he warned that Russia would not stop in Ukraine
French President Emmanuel Macron is meeting with his German counterpart Olaf Scholz in Berlin after rifts over Europe’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine have been exposed.
“European and French security is at stake in Ukraine,” the French leader said, warning that if Russia were to win, European security would “be reduced to zero.”
But Scholz is far more cautious, denying the deployment of German Taurus cruise missiles.
Ukraine faces a serious arms shortage.
The German chancellor is under pressure to increase government support after a $60bn (£47bn, €55bn) US military aid plan for Ukraine was blocked in parliament by right-wing Republicans.
Germany remains Europe’s biggest source of military aid to Ukraine, but Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who will join the two leaders later in Berlin, said three countries would “mobilize the whole of Europe” to provide support to Ukraine. He said it depends. .
“True solidarity with Ukraine? Less words, more ammunition,” he posted on social media on Friday.
Differences between Paris and Berlin have deepened in recent weeks after the German chancellor said the Taurus long-range missile would require German troops on the ground in Ukraine.
Macron has similarly angered some European partners by suggesting he cannot rule out sending troops to Western countries.
In a long live interview on French television on Thursday night, he said “all these options are possible” but that they were not his wishes.
He emphasized that France is a force for peace and warned that Russia was trying to expand its power and would not stop now. “If we leave Ukraine alone, if we let Ukraine lose this war, Russia will definitely threaten Moldova, Romania and Russia,” Poland said. “
Ahead of Friday’s three-way summit aimed at reviving the so-called “Weimar Triangle,” the German chancellor told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy by phone that the summit was “very important to organize all possible support.” It’s important.” Ukraine”.
Zelenskiy said on social media that he had told the German leader that Ukraine’s priorities were “armored vehicles, artillery and air defense.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that more than two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion began, Ukrainians are “not running out of courage, but rather ammunition.” he warned.
He called on NATO allies to provide Ukraine with what it needs, saying the shortage was one of the reasons Russia had made recent advances on the battlefield.
A Czech-led effort to procure weapons from outside Europe has already raised enough money to buy at least 300,000 shells, and Prague officials say the first deliveries will arrive by June at the latest.
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