Scholz asks "not to fall into the trap" of Putin about an international division over the war in Ukraine

ELMAU (GERMANY), 27 Jun. (DPA/EP) -

The chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, has claimed this Monday "not to fall into the trap" of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, of falling into a division between the Western countries and the rest because of the war in Ukraine, triggered on 24 February due to the invasion order given by the Russian president.

"In the first place, we must not fall into the trap set by Putin of affirming that the world is divided between the global West (...) and all the others," he said from the town of Elmau, where the summit of the G7, according to the German public television channel ZDF.

"Democracies exist throughout the world and have very similar perspectives," he indicated, before arguing that because of this, Germany has invited five emerging countries to the summit --India, Indonesia, South Africa, Senegal and Argentina--, whose leaders will participate in the acts during the day this Monday.

Thus, he has defended the importance of speaking with countries such as India, South Africa and Senegal, which abstained from voting on a resolution condemning the war in the United Nations General Assembly in March. "The Russian war of aggression has consequences for the whole world: many countries fear a hunger crisis, many fear a massive increase in energy prices," she argued.

"We have to be together in solidarity. We also want to show this solidarity here," said Scholz, who also highlighted the importance of the G20, in which Russia is integrated. "One thing is clear: the G20 must continue to play a role," he argued, as reported by the German news agency DPA.

In this sense, the German chancellor has pointed out that "there is a common conviction that they do not want to torpedo the G20", which includes important economic powers and which will hold its next summit in November in Indonesia. However, he has not clarified whether he would sit down with Putin if he attends the summit and has limited himself to recalling that Indonesia has also invited the president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky.