Davos Updates: Scholz Doesn’t Think Putin Will Win War

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated his conviction that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not win the war in Ukraine.

In a speech Thursday at the end of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Scholz said of Putin: “He has already failed to achieve all his strategic goals.”

The chancellor said that “a capture of all of Ukraine by Russia seems further away today than it did at the beginning of the war. More than ever, Ukraine is emphasizing its European future.”

In addition, Scholz said the “brutality of the Russian war” has prompted two states to move closer to NATO: “With Sweden and Finland, two close friends and partners want to join the North Atlantic alliance. They are most welcome!”

The chancellor added that Putin underestimated the unity and strength with which the Group of Seven major industrialized nations, NATO and the European Union had responded to his aggression.