BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was using energy and hunger as weapons but has failed to break the West’s unity and will not achieve his war aims through scorched earth tactics.
Speaking to the German parliament, he also said Germany had freed itself from dependence on Russian gas but was working to bring energy prices down, including by securing new gas delivery contracts from other countries.
The Russian army has pummelled Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in recent days, causing blackouts and prompting Ukraine to introduce curbs on electricity usage for the first time since the Russian invasion in February.
Russia has denied targeting civilians.
“We will not let Moscow’s latest escalation go unanswered… Scorched earth tactics will not help Russia win the war. They will only strengthen the unity and resolve of Ukraine and its partners,” Scholz told the German parliament.
“All the lies and propaganda, the talk of ‘special operations’ and swift victories – all that was just a facade, like a Potemkin village.”
Scholz was speaking as the leaders of the 27 European Union countries prepared to meet for the second time in a fortnight to try to bring down energy prices, though divisions persist over moves to cap gas prices.
(Reporting by Matthias Williams and Thomas Escritt, editing by Rachel More)
