German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes military assistance for Ukraine has been strengthened in the long term by the G7 group's pledge of support.
Speaking just before the conclusion of the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Wednesday, Scholz said the development was about a "security partnership" embedded in a longer-term strategy "on which Ukraine can then also rely."
Scholz said that the NATO summit top-level meeting had also formulated a clear response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
"It has strengthened NATO, underlined our readiness to defend ourselves and increased cohesion in the Alliance," the chancellor said. "NATO is a defensive alliance that threatens no one. But it is ready and able to meet any military threat."
Scholz also said that the German government will not agree to the delivery of Eurofighter fighter jets to Saudi Arabia for the time being.
"No decision on Eurofighter deliveries to Saudi Arabia is foreseeable," he said. Government sources said that the decision would initially apply to this legislative period, until late 2025.
Arms exports to Saudi Arabia are particularly controversial because the kingdom leads the alliance supporting the Yemeni government against the Huthi rebels in the country's civil war.
