NATO’s Rutte slams Zelenskyy for criticizing Germany’s Scholz

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy must stop his “unfair” criticism of the German chancellor, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said.

“I have often told Zelenskyy that he should stop criticizing Olaf Scholz, because I think it is unfair,” Rutte told the German news agency DPA in an interview published on Monday.

The NATO chief was referring to Kyiv’s frustration over Germany’s dithering about supplying long-range Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Rutte said that unlike Scholz, he is in favor of supplying supplying Ukraine with Taurus cruise missiles and would not impose restrictions on their use. “In general, we know that such capabilities are very important for Ukraine,” he said, adding that it is not up to him to decide what exactly the allies should supply.

Zelenskyy publicly criticized Scholz in November for holding a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The call had opened a “pandora’s box,” and had undermined efforts to isolate Moscow, Zelenskyy said.

Speaking in front of the European Parliament on the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Nov. 19, Zelenskyy again took stabs at Scholz, referring to the phone call.

“While some European leaders think about, you know, some elections or something like this at Ukraine’s expense, Putin is focused on winning this war,” he said. “He will not stop on his own.”