Scholz suggests Europe should go back to pre-war "peace order" with Russia after conflict ends

WORLD  02 December 2022 - 11:50

The German chancellor has been looking ahead to what could happen in Europe when the war in Ukraine ends.

Revealing what he might like to see happen, Olaf Scholz said the continent should go back to its pre-war "peace order" with Russia and resolve "all questions of common security" - if Vladimir Putin will agree to stop aggression against Russia's neighbours, Sky News reports.

Mr Scholz said he would like to restore the security arrangements made during and after the Cold War, telling the Berlin Security Conference that there was a "willingness" to engage with Russia on matters such as arms control and missile deployment.

This is based on Russia's agreeing to stop trying to expand its territory.

Other NATO allies such as Poland and the Baltic states will likely take a different approach and have signalled they would be against making any concessions to Russia.

Commenting on how Germany would deal with Russia once the war has ended, Mr Scholz said: "Russia spoilt the peace order we worked on for so many decades and we agreed there should never again be the attempt to change borders by force.

"And what Russia is doing today is going back to the imperialistic approach of the 19th, 18th, 17th century where just a stronger country thinks it could just take the territory of the neighbour, understanding neighbours as just hinterland, and some place they can give rules to be followed. And this can never be accepted."

But he added: "We have to go back to the agreements which we had in the last decades and which were the basis for peace and security order in Europe.

"And for Russia, this also means that it accepts that there are open-minded societies, open societies, democracies, that follow completely a different way of how they are governed and how they attract people...

"In the end, there is no aggression coming from the member states of the European Union, there is no aggression coming from NATO, and all questions of common security could be solved and discussed. There is a willingness to do so."

Caliber.Az