Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Sunday that Germany won’t ship fighter jets to Ukraine, as Kyiv steps up requires extra superior weapons from the West to assist repel Russia’s invasion.

Scholz solely simply agreed on Wednesday to ship 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to permit different European international locations to ship theirs, after weeks of intense debate and mounting strain from allies.

“I can solely advise towards getting into into a continuing bidding battle when it comes to weapons programs,” Scholz said in an interview with the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

“If, as soon as a decision (on tanks) has been made, the next debate starts in Germany, that doesn’t come across as serious and undermines citizens’ confidence in government decisions.”

Scholz’s determination to green-light the tanks was accompanied by a US announcement that it might ship 31 of its Abrams tanks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Berlin and Washington for the transfer, seen as a breakthrough in efforts to help the war-torn nation.

But Zelensky instantly pressured that Ukraine wanted extra heavy weapons from NATO allies to fend off Russian troops — together with fighter jets and long-range missiles.

Scholz within the interview warned towards elevating “the chance of escalation”, with Moscow already sharply condemning the tank pledges.

“There is no war between NATO and Russia. We will not allow such an escalation,” he mentioned.

The chancellor added that it was “mandatory” to continue speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The last phone call between the leaders was in early December.

“I will talk to Putin by phone again,” Scholz mentioned.

“But in fact it’s additionally clear that so long as Russia continues to wage battle with unabated aggression, the present scenario won’t change.”

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