NATO Chief Calls Zelensky’s Criticism of Scholz Unfair

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he considered the sometimes harsh criticism of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz by President Volodymyr Zelensky to be unjustified, news wire DPA reported.

Although Germany has been a vital ally of Ukraine, its hesitation in providing long-range Taurus cruise missiles has been a source of frustration in Kyiv, which is battling a foe armed with a powerful array of long-range weaponry.

“I have often told Zelensky that he should stop criticizing Olaf Scholz because I think it is unfair,” DPA quoted Rutte on Monday (23 December) as saying in an interview.

Rutte also said that he, unlike Scholz, would supply Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles and would not set limits on their use.

“In general, we know that such capabilities are very important for Ukraine,” Rutte said, adding that it was not up to him to decide what allies should deliver.

After a November telephone call by Scholz with Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin in November, Zelensky said it had opened a Pandora’s box that undermined efforts to isolate the Russian leader and end the war in Ukraine with a “fair peace.”

NATO membership ‘achievable’

Ukraine’s membership of NATO is “achievable,” but Kyiv will have to fight to persuade allies to make it happen, Zelensky told Ukrainian diplomats in a speech on Sunday.

Ukraine has repeatedly urged NATO to invite Kyiv to become a member. The Western military alliance has said Ukraine will join its ranks one day but has not set a date or issued an invitation.

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Moscow has cited the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO as one of the principal justifications for its 2022 invasion. Kyiv says membership in the Western alliance’s mutual defense pact, or an equivalent form of security guarantee, would be crucial to any peace plan to ensure that Russia does not attack again.

“We all understand that Ukraine’s invitation to NATO and membership in the alliance can only be a political decision,” Zelenskyy told diplomats at a gathering in Kyiv. “Alliance for Ukraine is achievable, but it is achievable only if we fight for this decision at all the necessary levels.”

Zelenskyy said allies needed to know what Ukraine could bring to NATO and how its membership in the alliance would stabilize global relations.

Last week Zelenskyy urged European countries to provide guarantees to protect Ukraine after the war with Russia ends and said Ukraine would ultimately need more protection through membership of the alliance.