Scholz on the eve of his resignation: Germany will continue to support Ukraine as long as necessary

Germany will continue to support Ukraine "as long as necessary," Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is due to step down tomorrow, said tonight.

During his last telephone conversation as prime minister with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Social Democratic leader reaffirmed "Germany's continued and unwavering solidarity with Ukraine," Scholz's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.

Scholz stressed that "Germany will continue to support Ukraine in close coordination with its European and international partners, and for as long as necessary."

Launched in February 2022, two months after Scholz took office as chancellor, "the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and its consequences" marked his term like few other events, Hebestreit said.

Germany has been, after the US, the second largest supplier of military aid to Kiev since the very beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

However, despite Zelensky's repeated requests, Scholz consistently refused to deliver German long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Kiev, explaining that he wanted to avoid aggravation with Moscow.

Presenting himself as an ardent supporter of Kiev, future Chancellor Friedrich Merz took a different stance, saying that under certain conditions he was ready to deliver these missiles.