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German Chancellor Scholz: West should 'brace' itself for prolonged conflict in Ukraine

"Germany will continue to be a staunch supporter of Ukraine as long as it takes," Olaf Scholz stated

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

BERLIN, June 19. /TASS/. The West should adjust its policy with the expectation that the Ukraine conflict may go on for an indefinite period of time German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday.

"We have to brace ourselves that the Russian [special military operation] act could last for a long time," German Chancellor Scholz said speaking at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

"This is what we are preparing for and this is what we are orienting our policy toward," Scholz told Stoltenberg.

"Germany will continue to be a staunch supporter of Ukraine as long as it takes," Scholz continued. "However, it’s obvious that NATO will not become a party to the conflict."

On June 14, the German government has adopted the country’s first ever National Security Strategy, which enshrines the main principles and measures to counter potential external threats to the state in the coming years.

"The determining factor" of the document’s development was Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, the "Zeitenwende" or "tipping point," as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it.

The German government enshrined its NATO commitments and decided to increase defense spending by twp percent of GDP.

"We express our strong commitment to NATO and the EU and strengthen the Bundeswehr (the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany) to meet the primary objective of national and alliance defense (of two percent)," the document said.

It pointed out that the authorities planned to reach the two-percent increase in defense spending in the term of "over several years." "We will strengthen our security in cyberspace and space," the document stressed.

In addition, the German government said that it will reduce dependence on energy and raw materials supplies and work on their diversification.

"We will reduce unilateral dependency on the supplies of raw materials and energy resources by diversifying them. We will work together with our businesses to promote raw materials projects, including creating strategic stockpiles," the document said.

The German authorities also added that they sought to expand national food, energy, and medicine reserves. The document included as well plans to overpass a law aimed at protecting critical infrastructure facilities.

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Ukraine crisis Germany Olaf Scholz

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