German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored the implications of the war in Ukraine for the West in a speech on Thursday, calling it part of a crusade by Russia against liberal democracy.
"(Russian President) Vladimir Putin and his enablers have made one thing very clear: this war is not only about Ukraine. They consider their war against Ukraine to be part of a larger crusade, a crusade against liberal democracy," said Scholz in a recorded speech at the Progressive Governance Summit in Berlin.
(Reporting by Paul Carrel and Miranda Murray)
