German sanctions on Russia came too late over fears it would damage the country’s economy, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.
Addressing the Bundestag via videolink on Thursday morning, Mr Zelensky urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz to show “leadership” and ramp up the pressure on the Kremlin.
In a speech steeped in history, Mr Zelensky invoked former US President Ronald Reagan’s famous 1978 Berlin speech, urging Mr Scholz to “tear down the wall” Russia was attempting to erect in Europe.
“It’s not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb dropped on Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky told MPs after being welcomed with a standing ovation.
However, Mr Zelensky delivered a strong rebuke of Germany’s hesitancy to stand up to Moscow amid fears over its energy supply.
Last month, Mr Scholz announced the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would not open after mounting international pressure from Germany’s European partners. The country is more reliant on Russian oil and gas than the US and the UK.
“We turned to you,” he said. “We told you that Nord Stream (gas pipelines) was a kind of preparation for the war.”
“And the answer we got was purely economic -- it is economy, economy, economy but that was the mortar for the new Wall.”
Germany, which has long played down the role of its military in foreign policy, has pledged to hugely ramp up defence spending following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The German budget this year will allocate €109 billion for a one-time increase in defence spending, Mr Scholz said last month, which is more than double the entire 2021 defence bill of €47 billion.
Western countries said Russian forces were no longer making progress on the ground despite continuing to blast cities and kill civilians.
Although both sides have pointed to limited progress in peace talks this week, President Vladimir Putin, who ordered Russia’s invasion on February 24, has shown little sign of relenting.
