BERLIN, May 26. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he was against any `cold peace' in Ukraine and that Kiev should put forward conditions for peace itself.

"Russia has to understand that that the war cannot be ended by making some kind of `cold peace’. For instance, by turning the current front line into a new `border’ between Russia and Ukraine," the German leader said in an interview with the Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper, published on Friday. This, Scholz said, would `legitimize’ Russia’s territorial acquisitions. "Rather, it is about a fair peace, and the prerequisite for that is the withdrawal of Russian troops," he insisted.

The German chancellor refused to answer the question about whether that applied to Crimea as well. He simply reiterated, "The withdrawal of troops." "Ukraine should be the one formulating conditions it wants to put forward, not us," he emphasized.

Earlier, the German Defense Ministry unveiled its latest military aid package for Kiev, worth 2.7 billion euro, including 20 Marder infantry combat vehicles, 30 Leopard 1A5 tanks, 200 reconnaissance drone, logistical vehicles, four IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft systems, as well as ammunition. The list also includes 18 self-propelled howitzers and 100 armored fighting vehicles.

At a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky on May 14, Scholz said that Berlin had provided Ukraine with 17 billion euro worth of assistance since last February. Before that, the head of Germany’s government mentioned that since February 2022, the German assistance, provided or guaranteed to Kiev, totaled over 14 billion euro. He referred to military, humanitarian and financial packages.