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Politico: Scholz, Macron to meet in Berlin to ease tensions over Ukraine

by Elsa Court and The Kyiv Independent news desk March 13, 2024 6:59 PM 2 min read

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as he arrives to attend a conference in support of Ukraine with European leaders and government representatives on in Paris, France on Feb 26, 2024. (Christian Liewig - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)

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French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on March 15 to "reduce tensions" between Paris and Berlin over Ukraine, Politico reported on March 13, citing high-level German and French officials.

Macron's recent remarks that sending Western troops to Ukraine cannot be "ruled out" fueled open disagreement between the two leaders, with Scholz responding that there will be "no ground troops from European countries or NATO" in Ukraine.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is expected to join the meeting in Berlin later in the day, and the talks will focus more on showcasing unity than on making concrete agreements, Politico said.

It will be the first dialogue in this format between the three countries since Tusk became prime minister of Poland in December, Politico noted.

According to Politico, German officials point out that while Macron makes more hawkish public statements than Scholz, Germany remains the second-largest military donor to Ukraine in the world.

The French "counter that they give the weapons that really matter," Politico said, hinting at the fact that France has delivered long-range SCALP missiles while Berlin refuses to send long-range Taurus missiles.

Scholz claims that Taurus missiles require German personnel to be on the ground to operate the missile's target control system and therefore considers delivering Taurus missiles to Ukraine a move that could draw Germany into a war with Russia.

Authors: Elsa Court, The Kyiv Independent news desk

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