German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned against decisions that would bring merely
an “imaginary” peace to Ukraine, speaking at the Sant'Egidio Community peace
conference in Berlin on Sept. 12.
“Peace without freedom is called oppression, and peace without justice is called dictatorship,” German broadcaster DW quotes Scholz.
The German government fully supports Ukraine's demands for a just peace that respects the principles of the UN Charter and adheres to the principles of territorial integrity and independence, the chancellor adds.
“Law must prevail over violence, not the other way around,” he concluded.
At the onset of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin tried to convince Scholz to recognize Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts as "independent" and occupied Crimea as part of Russia, according to a report by German newspaper Bild.