It is the first meeting between the two men since Social Democrat Scholz was elected head of a three-party coalition government, and a week has passed since Germany resisted British calls for big economies to set a timetable for ending its dependence on Russia. . Ahead of a meeting with Soltz on Downing Street, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said: “I applaud his determination with the authorities to end its dependence on Russian energy. How we respond to the Russian invasion will determine the international order for years to come. “We can not let Putin’s crimes go unpunished.” Scholz has been criticized at home and by Ukrainian politicians for not moving fast enough to wean Germany off decades of dependence on cheap Russian energy and for delaying supporting the transfer of the heavy weapons Ukraine needs. It has also been warned by German industrialists that an immediate gas embargo would lead to mass unemployment, a position largely shared by the Greens, its coalition partners. Robert Habek, Germany’s economy and energy minister, has announced plans to halt oil and coal imports from Russia this year and gas by mid-2024. Johnson is also expected to discuss the delivery of “new and heavier” weapons to Ukraine, acknowledging that the conflict has entered a “new and different phase”. Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, told Deutschlandfunk radio on Thursday that Kyiv was “expecting” Berlin to deliver Marder and Leopard tanks, as well as the Gepard anti-aircraft system. “The lists are there, the German government knows about them, but unfortunately it remains silent to this day,” Melnik said. “Germany was too slow, too late and did little to put maximum pressure on Vladimir Putin,” Norbert Röttgen, a member of the opposition CDU and a longtime supporter of Germany’s largest German military involvement in Ukraine, told BBC Radio 4 Today. . He said the polls in Germany showed growing support and a majority for imposing an immediate energy embargo on Russia. He acknowledged that this would mean significant financial disadvantages, but insisted that there would be no financial disaster. He said German industry needed to realize that this was a war for freedom. UK Secretary of State Liz Truss had pressured the G7, including Germany, to set a timetable for ending its dependence on Russian energy, but the G7 statement issued on Thursday contained only an ambition to reduce it. dependence. During almost two days of meetings this week, the EU has so far agreed to end Russian coal imports by August, but no consensus has yet been reached on a gradual embargo on oil or gas. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign minister, said it was likely to be introduced “sooner or later”. The issue will be discussed again at an EU foreign affairs meeting on Monday. In 2021, fossil fuel revenues accounted for 35% of Russia’s budget revenues. Russia exported more than 49% of its oil and 74% of its gas to Europe. Russia is heading for a deeper recession since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Britain predicted on Friday, estimating that more than 5 275 billion ($ 358.52 billion) in Russian money had been frozen due to international sanctions in recent weeks.
