Urgent De-escalation Needed Around Ukraine, War Must Not Begin - Scholz

Urgent de-escalation around Ukraine is necessary, and war must not begin. This was reported by RIA Novosti, citing a statement from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“My visit takes place under the sign of the most severe and threatening crisis in Europe in decades. The military activity of Russia and the concentration of Russian troops along the border, as well as questions regarding the security guarantees formulated by Russia, took a lot of time in our negotiations. I expressed my assessment of the security situation, and we discussed how we and our European partners evaluate this situation,” said Scholz after talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“We are concerned that military personnel are concentrated at the Ukrainian contact line, and there is no apparent reason for this. Therefore, urgent de-escalation is necessary. In this tense situation, it is very important not to start a war,” he added.