OLAF SCHOLZ

The Ukrainian presidential office says Monday in a report covering the previous 24 hours that Russian shelling killed at least five people and wounded 13 others, as the Kremlin’s and Kyiv’s forces remained locked in combat in eastern Ukraine.

Amid growing discord, a new proposal swayed a reluctant ally, as Germany relented on Leopards and U.S. pledged (eventually) to provide Abrams tanks to Kyiv.

It’s good that Chancellor Olaf Scholz is finally giving Ukraine tanks. Now let’s admit what it took to get there.

Smaller countries forced NATO’s greatest powers to give Ukraine the vehicles it needs.

The agreement between the US and Germany is a critical step toward helping Ukraine regain lost ground.

The wariness over military involvement that made Germany hesitate to send tanks to Ukraine is rooted in the country's memories of World War I and II.

Germany has apologized for using a leopard emoji in a jibe at Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Twitter that ended up offending some Africans.

U.S. officials balked for months at sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, insisting they were too complicated and too hard to maintain and repair.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, President Biden said the U.S. will send 31 Abrams tanks to support Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s invasion. In his remarks, Biden also praised German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for agreeing to contribute tanks to support Ukraine, saying, “Germany has really stepped up.”

GettyIt didn’t take long for Russian officials to start foaming at the mouth and ranting about global conspiracies after Germany agreed to deliver its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine on Wednesday.After weeks of resistance, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that, along with allies, the country would provide 88 of the battle tanks to Ukraine, effectively giving Kyiv more firepower to launch new offensives. The Biden administration was also expected to announce a deal to send 30 M1 Abrams t

The U.S. and Germany had resisted sending tanks for months. This marks the latest upgrade in heavy weapons for Ukraine and comes amid growing expectations the fighting will soon escalte.

Germany has approved to send Ukraine up to two battalions of Leopard 2 tanks following weeks of stalled and frustrated negotiations as the war rages on.

The economic outlook has brightened in Europe's largest economy.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Wednesday his country will export more than a dozen of its Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine. The move follows weeks of pressure from western allies.

Germany announced it is ready to send 14 its own tanks to Ukraine and to allow others to do so, in an U-turn from its previous position.

The decision expected from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz would end months of debate among Western allies and could help to shift the balance on the battlefield.

Germany and the United States have announced that they will send advanced battle tanks to Ukraine.

The American-made Abrams tanks, probably numbering at least 30, are not likely to arrive in time for an expected spring offensive, however.

The German Army has 320 Leopard-2 main battle tanks at its disposal, although they are at different stages of deployment readiness, German Defense Ministry official told CNN on Jan. 24.

In what would be a reversal, the Biden administration is poised to approve sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as international reluctance to send tanks to the battlefront against the Russians begins to erode. The decision could be announced as soon as Wednesday, though it could take months or years for the tanks to be delivered. U.S. officials said details are still being worked out.

Sometimes not making a decision becomes the decision. By dithering about sending tanks to Ukraine, the German Chancellor is making the worst kind.

Sometimes not making a decision becomes the decision. By dithering about sending tanks to Ukraine, the German Chancellor is making the worst kind.

At a moment when Ukraine and its allies are preaching the need for speed in order to chase Russia out of its territory, the Germans are being viewed as a European ditherer.

A revolution in Germans’ military outlook will only go so far, so fast. Given history, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Andrés Gluski made his comments during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Germany’s top diplomat says her country won't object if Poland decides to send Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine.

France and Germany have commemorated the 60th anniversary of their post-World War II friendship treaty by committing to “unwavering support” for Ukraine and to strengthening the European Union.

A revolution in Germans’ military outlook will only go so far, so fast. Given history, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Germany has become one of Ukraine’s leading weapons suppliers in the 11 months since Russia’s invasion, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz also has gained a reputation for hesitating to take each new step — generating impatience among allies

Germany has become one of Ukraine's leading weapons suppliers in the 11 months since Russia's invasion, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz also has gained a reputation for hesitating to take each new step — generating impatience among allies. Berlin’s perceived foot-dragging, most recently on the Leopard 2 battle tanks that Kyiv has long sought, is rooted at least partly in a post-World War II political culture of military caution, along with present-day worries about a possible escalation in the war. On Friday, Germany inched closer to a decision to deliver the tanks, ordering a review of its Leopard stocks in preparation for a possible green light.

Power brokers have wrapped up the World Economic Forum’s annual conclave in the Swiss town of Davos as worries about the war in Ukraine, a warming planet and a cooling global economy dominated discussions about the world’s ills.

Western envoys have visited Kosovo and Serbia as part of their ongoing efforts to defuse tensions and help secure a reconciliation agreement between the two.

Poland and Finland say they want to send German-made Leopards to Ukraine. But the German government has not signed off.

Boris Pistorius was sworn in Thursday morning before meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and overseeing a potential shift in Germany's stance on weapons for Ukraine.

Trade ministers from a handful of nations have announced an initiative to promote trade policies that support action on climate change at a press conference in Davos, Switzerland.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told political leaders at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, that supplies of Western weapons must come quicker than Russia’s attacks.

The new defense minister in Germany will be Boris Pistorius, according to Olaf Shultz. The defense minister-designate has served as the interior minister of Lower Saxony since 2013.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz seems to have finally figured out the Ukrainians need battle tanks to defeat the Russians. Eventually, they’ll need fighter jets too.

he interior minister of the state of Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius, will become Germany's next defense minister, the government said Tuesday.

This year’s World Economic Forum theme, a plaintive appeal to find “cooperation in a fragmented world,” seems possessed by ruptures that have taken place around the world.

Germany's defense minister announced her resignation on Monday following a series of public blunders and criticism of her handling of support for Ukraine.

Poland’s prime minister says he wants the German government to supply a wide range of weapons to Ukraine.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht has resigned following persistent criticism of her handling of military modernization programs and the country’s arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Germany’s much-criticized defense minister announced her resignation Monday, as her department steers the massive project of modernizing the country’s military and oversees expanding weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Christine Lambrecht said in a statement that she had submitted her resignation request to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, adding that “months of media focus on my person” had stood in the way of a factual debate about the military and Germany’s security policy. The 57-year-old has been defense minister since Scholz became chancellor in December 2021.

Germany on Saturday inaugurated its second liquefied natural gas terminal, part of a drive by Europe's biggest economy to put reliance on Russian energy sources firmly behind it. Chancellor Olaf Scholz took part in the ceremony in Lubmin on the Baltic Sea coast, which came less than a month after he inaugurated Germany's first LNG terminal at Wilhelmshaven on the North Sea. Several more are expected to go online in the coming months, including another in Lubmin.

While the WEF summit has had low G-7 attendance in the past, one political advisor said leaders would be especially wary amid the cost-of-living crisis.

The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, kicks off next week. Here's a recap of some of the calls made at the high-profile meeting in recent years.

The German government says Berlin aims to supply around 40 Marder armored personnel carriers to Ukraine in this year’s first quarter

The White House has announced a new $3.75 billion military assistance package to help Ukraine and its neighbors on NATO's eastern flank as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine grinds on.

Germany also will send combat vehicles and a second Patriot missile air defense battery.

The German government is condemning incidents on New Year’s Eve in which police officers and firefighters were attacked mostly with fireworks

The German government on Monday condemned incidents on New Year's Eve in which police officers and firefighters were attacked, mostly with fireworks. People across Germany on Saturday resumed their tradition of setting off large numbers of fireworks in public places to see in the new year.

A Swiss court has granted a six-month “stay of bankruptcy” to the operating company for the never-opened Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Not Aquarius. A new-old period of realism has returned — but with one disastrous difference. Plus a selection of the writer’s favorite columns of 2022.

Germany has dispatched a batch of the BioNTech-Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to China, where it will be administered to Germans who live in the country

The lawmakers sought to temper expectations about the role hydrogen could play in slashing emissions and the transition to a net-zero economy.

Several Holocaust survivors are marking the third day of Hanukkah together with a virtual ceremony

Germany and France seem to be willing to “compartmentalize” their relations with Beijing, excluding the difficult issues. That’s the way best not taken.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has inaugurated Germany’s first liquefied natural gas terminal, declaring that the speed with which it was put into service is a signal that Europe’s biggest economy will remain strong.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz says it’s in the interest of Germany and Europe for the remaining countries of the Balkans to join the European Union

The Group of Seven leading economies have created an open and international climate club in which countries are to cooperate in the fight against global warming.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that even though Russia was not actively threatening to use nuclear arms, there was no guarantee Moscow would not attack others.

A call to Moscow by the German chancellor on Friday was the first by an EU leader since Russia suffered a string of battlefield defeats in its war against Ukraine

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday  Russia's strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were "inevitable" as the Kremlin rejected US President Joe Biden's terms for talks and warned the assault would continue. After suffering humiliating military defeats during what has become the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia began targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in October, causing sweeping blackouts. Speaking with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the first time since mid-September, Putin slammed what he called the West's "destructive" policies in Ukraine and said Russian strikes were a response to "provocative" attacks from Kyiv. Moscow "had long refrained from precision missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine", Putin told Scholz, according to a Kremlin readout of the phone talks. "But now such measures have become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv's provocative attacks on Russia's civilian infrastructure," the Kremlin said, referring in particular to the October attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland. During the hour-long  call with Putin, Scholz "urged the Russian president to come as quickly as possible to a diplomatic solution including the withdrawal of Russian troops", according to the German leader's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Putin urged Berlin to "reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events", the Kremlin said. He accused the West of carrying out "destructive" policies in Ukraine, stressing that its political and financial aid "leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ruled out any talks with Russia while Putin is in power shortly after the Kremlin claimed to have annexed several Ukrainian regions. - Offensive 'continues' - The Kremlin also indicated Moscow was in no mood for talks over Ukraine, after Biden said he would be willing to sit down with Putin if the Russian leader truly wanted to end the fighting. "What did President Biden say in fact? He said that negotiations are possible only after Putin leaves Ukraine," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding Moscow was "certainly" not ready to accept those conditions. "The special military operation continues," he added, using the Kremlin term for the assault launched on February 24. Russia's strikes have destroyed close to half of the Ukrainian energy system and left millions in the cold and dark at the onset of winter. In the latest estimates from Kyiv, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, said as many as 13,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the fighting. Both Moscow and Kyiv are suspected of minimising their losses to avoid damaging the morale. Top US general Mark Milley last month said more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces likely suffering similar casualties. - 'We are not defeated' - The fighting in Ukraine has also claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. Those who remain in the country have had to cope with emergency blackouts as authorities sought to relieve the pressure on the energy infrastructure. In an attempt to boost the mood in the capital Kyiv, musicians played a classical music concert on Thursday with hundreds of LED candles lighting up the stage. "We thought it was a good idea to save energy," Irina Mikolaenko, one of the concert's organisers, told AFP. She said they wanted to spread "inspiration, light and love" and "tell people that we are not defeated". Ukrainian officials have said they are expecting a new wave of Russian attacks shortly. Meanwhile, Western nations have been seeking ways to further starve Russia of resources to fight in Ukraine by imposing a price cap on its oil exports on top of a multitude of sanctions already introduced against Moscow. On Thursday evening, European diplomats were close to nodding the plan through, but Poland refused to back the scheme, saying the $60 a barrel ceiling was not low enough. Moscow has previously warned that it will not export oil to countries enforcing a price cap. bur/bp

President Vladimir Putin said on Friday  Russia's strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure were "inevitable" as the Kremlin rejected US President Joe Biden's terms for talks and warned the assault would continue. After suffering humiliating military defeats during what has become the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, Russia began targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in October, causing sweeping blackouts. Speaking with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the first time since mid-September, Putin slammed what he called the West's "destructive" policies in Ukraine and said Russian strikes were a response to "provocative" attacks from Kyiv. Moscow "had long refrained from precision missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine", Putin told Scholz, according to a Kremlin readout of the phone talks. "But now such measures have become a forced and inevitable response to Kyiv's provocative attacks on Russia's civilian infrastructure," the Kremlin said, referring in particular to the October attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland. During the hour-long  call with Putin, Scholz "urged the Russian president to come as quickly as possible to a diplomatic solution including the withdrawal of Russian troops", according to the German leader's spokesman Steffen Hebestreit. Putin urged Berlin to "reconsider its approaches in the context of the Ukrainian events", the Kremlin said. He accused the West of carrying out "destructive" policies in Ukraine, stressing that its political and financial aid "leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had ruled out any talks with Russia while Putin is in power shortly after the Kremlin claimed to have annexed several Ukrainian regions. - Offensive 'continues' - The Kremlin also indicated Moscow was in no mood for talks over Ukraine, after Biden said he would be willing to sit down with Putin if the Russian leader truly wanted to end the fighting. "What did President Biden say in fact? He said that negotiations are possible only after Putin leaves Ukraine," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding Moscow was "certainly" not ready to accept those conditions. "The special military operation continues," he added, using the Kremlin term for the assault launched on February 24. Russia's strikes have destroyed close to half of the Ukrainian energy system and left millions in the cold and dark at the onset of winter. In the latest estimates from Kyiv, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelensky, said as many as 13,000 Ukrainian troops have died in the fighting. Both Moscow and Kyiv are suspected of minimising their losses to avoid damaging the morale. Top US general Mark Milley last month said more than 100,000 Russian military personnel have been killed or wounded in Ukraine, with Kyiv's forces likely suffering similar casualties. - 'We are not defeated' - The fighting in Ukraine has also claimed the lives of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. Those who remain in the country have had to cope with emergency blackouts as authorities sought to relieve the pressure on the energy infrastructure. In an attempt to boost the mood in the capital Kyiv, musicians played a classical music concert on Thursday with hundreds of LED candles lighting up the stage. "We thought it was a good idea to save energy," Irina Mikolaenko, one of the concert's organisers, told AFP. She said they wanted to spread "inspiration, light and love" and "tell people that we are not defeated". Ukrainian officials have said they are expecting a new wave of Russian attacks shortly. Meanwhile, Western nations have been seeking ways to further starve Russia of resources to fight in Ukraine by imposing a price cap on its oil exports on top of a multitude of sanctions already introduced against Moscow. On Thursday evening, European diplomats were close to nodding the plan through, but Poland refused to back the scheme, saying the $60 a barrel ceiling was not low enough. Moscow has previously warned that it will not export oil to countries enforcing a price cap. bur/bp

The Kremlin has reported on a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, and Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany. Source: European Pravda Details: The Kremlin has stated that the conversation took place at the initiative of the German side.

Russia has rejected Western demands that it pulls out completely from Ukraine as part of any future talks to end the war, saying they effectively rule out any talks on settling the conflict.

Germany and Norway are urging NATO to set up a center tasked with protecting undersea infrastructure such as gas pipelines and telecommunication cables

Germany and Norway are urging NATO to set up a center tasked with protecting undersea infrastructure such as gas pipelines and telecommunication cables.

Germany’s parliament has approved a resolution recognizing as genocide Ukraine’s 1930s “Holodomor” — a famine believed to have killed more than 3 million Ukrainians under the repressive rule of Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

Qatar is to supply liquefied natural gas to Germany under a 15-year deal as the European economic powerhouse scrambles to replace Russian gas supplies that were cut during the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Fleeing shelling, civilians have streamed out of the southern Ukrainian city whose recapture they had celebrated just weeks earlier.

Normally when the World Cup comes around, Germans proudly fly their country’s flag and enthusiastically back their team.

A Swedish prosecutor says investigators have found traces of explosives at the Baltic Sea site where two gas natural pipelines were damaged in what he called an act of “gross sabotage.”.

The family of imprisoned Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah says they were allowed to see him for the first time in nearly a month and that he is “very, very thin” after ending a hunger strike that prompted widespread concern for his health.

China and India, after months of refusing to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine, did not stand in the way of the release of a statement by the world’s leading economies that harshly criticized Moscow.

The governor of a province in western Ukraine says it will take up to a year to fully restore the power grid after Russia’s massive missile barrage on Tuesday.

The family of Egypt’s imprisoned hunger-striking activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah says he has started drinking water again.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is leaving his country’s COVID-19 bubble and venturing abroad next week into a dramatically changed world marked by rising confrontation.

German lawmakers have approved a plan to keep the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants until mid-April.

Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry indicated no shift in position with regard to a jailed activist who is on a hunger and water strike.

The German government has blocked the sale of a chip factory to a Swedish subsidiary of a Chinese company.

The second day of leaders' speeches at the UN's climate conference included bold proposals, recommendations to crack down and standardize “net zero” claims and continued discussion about the situation of a jailed pro-democracy activist who is on a hunger and water strike.

The family of one of Egypt’s top jailed pro-democracy activists warn that the clock is ticking on his life as they plead with world leaders at the U.N. climate conference to press Egypt for his release.

Chinese health officials are giving no indication of any relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions following several days of speculation that the government was considering changes to a “zero-COVID” approach that has stymied economic growth and disrupted daily life.

German officials are urging environmental activists to engage in “constructive” protests and avoid endangering lives.

Top diplomats from the world’s major industrialized democracies have rallied support for Ukraine in its resistance to Russia’s invasion.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for peace talks over Ukraine and warned against the conflict going nuclear in a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who urged China to exert its influence on Russia.

Top diplomats from the world’s major industrialized democracies are seeking to expand unified positions on Russia's war in Ukraine, China's growing global economic clout and Iran's crackdown on anti-government protestors.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has told leaders of six Balkan countries that aspire to join the European Union that “it is high time to overcome regional conflicts” and stand together as Russia wages war in Ukraine.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz is making his first visit to China as German leader this week, a diplomatically delicate trip while Germany and the European Union work on their strategy toward an increasingly assertive and authoritarian Beijing.

Top diplomats from the world’s major industrialized democracies will grapple with the implications of Russia’s war in Ukraine, China’s growing economic clout and aims on Taiwan and Iran’s treatment of anti-government protesters when they open two days of talks in Germany this week.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is urging climate activists to show “creativity” and avoid endangering others after attacking art works and setting up blockades that allegedly delayed the arrival of a specialist rescue crew at an accident scene.

World leaders have expressed sadness and condolences after at least 151 people were killed in a crowd surge Saturday night in Seoul, South Korea.

French President Emmanuel Macron is vowing to implement a pension reform that would eventually raise the retirement age by three years to 65 and make younger generations work longer.

Germany’s health minister has unveiled plans to decriminalize the possession of up to 30 grams (about 1 ounce) of cannabis and allow the sale of the substance to adults for recreational purposes in a controlled market.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz thrashed it out for three hours in Paris in hopes of bridging gaps between the two neighbors and key EU allies on energy, defense and the economy.

European Union nations have given themselves yet another month to overcome deep differences on groundbreaking measures to shield their citizens from the energy crisis.

German and European Union leaders have gathered experts to start work on what they describe as a “new Marshall Plan” for the rebuilding of Ukraine.

The German parliament has cleared the way for the government to provide up to 200 billion euros in subsidies to households and businesses to ease the strain of high energy prices.