Shorouk Express
Other German leaders also expressed shock.
“What is objectionable is that Ukraine has not been informed about this and neither has Europe,” German liberal MEP Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told POLITICO. She attacked Scholz for failing to bolster Germany’s defenses more aggressively during his time as chancellor, saying his government had “criminally failed to implement a true turnaround. Now we are paying the price.”
Other German lawmakers said they believe it is still possible to find common ground with Washington.
“We now have to wait and see what happens at the Munich Security Conference,” said Falko Drossmann, a lawmaker for Scholz’s center-left SPD and a former air force officer. “We have made the European position clear. We have made the German position clear, and we hope that our partner, the U.S., will take it just as seriously.”
Asked whether Europe would be able to replace U.S. military aid to Ukraine, Drossmann said: “No, of course not, because a large proportion of the weapons systems — including those we have supplied — are weapons systems that have been developed jointly with the U.S.”
In Munich, members of Trump’s administration are expected to present their plans to Europe’s leading politicians, while several top meetings — including one among U.S. Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy — are scheduled.
Not all German politicians were disappointed by Trump’s plan, however. Politicians with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is currently polling in second place and has long been sympathetic to the Kremlin, were in a celebratory mood.
“We are, of course, pleased that peace negotiations are happening,” said Gerold Otten, an AfD defense lawmaker and former colonel. “That has always been our demand.”
