Agency Report –
Berlin – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated his criticism of US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
In an interview with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) German media group published on Saturday, Scholz criticized Trump’s suggestion that its continued military aid to Ukraine should be tied to access to the country’s raw materials.
“Ukraine is under attack and [Germany] is helping without expectations of getting paid for it later. That should be everyone’s attitude,” Scholz said, referring to Germany’s military support to Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia.
The request “would be very selfish, very self-centered,” Scholz said after an informal EU summit in Brussels.
Meanwhile, Kiev has suggested it could be open to such an exchange.
Ukraine has one of the largest reserves of strategic resources in Europe, “and protecting Ukraine also means protecting these resources,” wrote Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in an X post on Friday evening.
These resources “can either strengthen our state and our partners – or Russia and its allies,” he stated.
In the interview, Scholz also criticized Trump for threatening to impose tariffs on imports from the European Union.
“The global economy needs fewer trade barriers, not more,” the chancellor said. Should it come to that, “the European Commission is able to react within hours,” he added, repeating a similar statement from earlier in the week in Brussels.
Scholz said he would continue to do everything in his power to maintain a good relationship with Washington, stressing that the US is Germany’s most important ally.
But as the chancellor of the largest EU economy, he sees it as his job to “stand up straight,” for example when a smaller country like Denmark is challenged with regard to Trump’s threats to occupy Greenland.
By Marie Kerres and Günther Chalupa
