Scholz vows to 'permanently' increase Germany's military output: CNN

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Despite talks of de-industrialization in Germany's economy and the excruciating energy crisis which has swept Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told CNN on Sunday that Germany plans to boost its military build-up 'permanently' to meet Ukraine's demands, including the production of tanks and air defense systems. 

"The build-up of defense production in Germany will be permanent," he told CNN host Fareed Zakaria, noting that Berlin requires an uninterrupted supply of basic hardware that is in service with the German armed forces, as well as maintenance capabilities and ammunition supply.

This comes a day after the Chancellor met with US President Joe Biden and discussed Germany's contribution to aiding Ukraine and how to respond to its current military needs. 

There were no talks of the possible US' role in sabotaging the Nord Stream II pipeline during their meeting. 

From my exclusive interview with German @Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz: his impression of Pres. Biden

Tune in to @CNN Sunday @ 10am & 1pm ET to watch on this week's GPS pic.twitter.com/jHpoozvwcj

— Fareed Zakaria (@FareedZakaria) March 5, 2023

This also comes in light of China's recent announcement that the defense budget this year will be the highest in four years at 1.55 trillion yuan ($225 billion) as foreign threats increase against the Asian giant that ranks second after the US in military spending having allocated a staggering budget of over $800 billion this year.

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On another note, the Chancellor said during his interview with CNN that Western countries are ready to provide Kiev with security guarantees once the conflict ends, yet the time is still not ripe for such a move, he noted.

"We are ready to organize certain security guarantees for the country after the onset of peace," he said, adding that it is completely up to Kiev to decide on the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

But Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine is first required in order for the peace talks to be initiated, he noted.

Whether Ukraine remains existent or not by the end of the conflict is uncertain. What is certain, however, is that trust with Russia has already reached an all-time low long ago. 

On February 20, Polish President Andrzej Duda urged NATO to provide security guarantees to Ukraine once the country's military hostilities ended, according to the Financial Times.

In order to provide the Ukrainian government and army "this feeling that NATO supports them," the Polish president indicated that security guarantees "would be Important."

Ukraine is hoping for security guarantees that would obligate NATO's member nations, especially those at the forefront of the alliance such as the US, UK, and France, to provide Ukraine with military support in the event that it ever faces similar adversity.

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