German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sought to portray unity among Ukraine's European allies in comments to parliament in Berlin on Wednesday ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels which begins on Thursday.
"We stand together," Scholz said, emphasizing three joint principles expressed at a meeting last week between Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
"We will support Ukraine for as long as necessary," Scholz said, adding that he would also ensure that the NATO alliance does not become directly involved in the fighting.
"And we will not accept a dictated peace at the expense of Ukraine," Scholz said.
Scholz's meeting with Tusk and Macron came amid public disagreements and tensions between Germany and its allies over how best to support Ukraine.
Scholz has come under international criticism for his refusal to send long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, which he argues would risk escalating the conflict.
The German leader has also disagreed with Macron's belief that NATO allies should leave open the possibility of deploying combat troops to Ukraine at some point in the future.
"To put it bluntly: as German chancellor, I will not be sending any soldiers from our Bundeswehr to Ukraine," Scholz said in response to Macron's comments, using the German name for the country's military.
Poland's defence minister has backed Macron's stance and again criticized Scholz on Wednesday for his refusal to send Taurus missiles to Ukraine.
Scholz and Macron will meet again at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Scholz also spoke out in favour of closer cooperation within the European Union in the procurement of armaments.
EU countries have sought to expand defence capabilities after Russia's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine brought renewed attention to shortcomings and deficiencies among many European militaries.
"We need closer cooperation in the defence industry, cooperation in armaments between our countries," Scholz said.
The chancellor said great progress has been made, but more is needed.
He added that it had been a grave mistake for years that there had been almost no contact between political leaders and the defence industry.
"The fact that we have now changed this is the right step. But we must explicitly say that we must ensure that we have continuous production of important weapons systems in Germany and Europe," Scholz said.
Germany's Christian Democrat opposition leader Friedrich Merz alleged that the German government led by Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) secretly wants an end to the Ukraine war and does not plan to continually support Kiev.
He referred to a statement made by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich last week about "freezing" the war in Ukraine.
"Wanting peace can have the opposite effect on peace," Merz warned, adding with regard to Putin: "Such an unscrupulous war criminal cannot be confronted with cowardice, but only with clarity and determination."
