German leader Scholz vows more Ukraine aid and defends his phone call with Putin

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked him for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The conflict is approaching a pivotal new phase, with the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump taking office next month and potentially determining the trajectory of the war after the president-elect’s pledge to end the fighting, with few details.

Ukraine is sensitive to whether cracks might be appearing in the unity of its Western allies behind helping it against Russia, as Putin banks on outlasting that commitment. Germany is Ukraine’s second-largest military backer after the United States.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby emphasized Monday that the Biden administration’s job is to put Ukraine in the best position of strength to give Zelenskyy leverage when negotiations begin. He underlined that it’s Zelenskyy “who gets to decide if and when he’s ready to negotiate, and he gets to decide what if anything he’s willing to negotiate.”