West must restore ‘peace order’ with Russia, says Scholz

Olaf Scholz has suggested that Europe should go back to its prewar ‘‘peace order’’ with Russia and resolve ‘‘all questions of common security’’ after the war in Ukraine if President Vladimir Putin is willing to renounce aggression against his neighbours.

In his most revealing remarks on the subject, the German chancellor said he would ultimately like to restore the patchwork of security arrangements stitched together during and after the Cold War, so long as Moscow was ready to honour them.

Up to now Nato leaders have tended to discuss future relations with Russia in vague terms, beyond insisting that only Ukraine can determine the terms on which it is prepared to end the war.

During a panel discussion at the Berlin Security Conference, however, Scholz said there was a ‘‘willingness’’ to engage with the Kremlin on matters such as arms control and missile deployment, on the condition that Putin stopped trying to expand Russia’s territory through invasions.

Asked how Germany would act towards Russia once the war was over, given the ‘‘strong partnership’’ that previously existed between the two countries, the chancellor replied: ‘‘At this stage I would say it’s not about partnership, to be very honest. Russia spoilt the peace order we worked on for so many decades and we agreed there should never again be the attempt to change borders by force.

‘‘What Russia is doing today is going back to the imperialistic approach of the 19th, 18th, 17th century where a stronger country thinks it could just take the territory of the neighbour . . . and this can never be accepted.’’

He continued: ‘‘We have to go back to the agreements which we had in the past decades and which were the basis for peace and security order in Europe.

‘‘And for Russia this also means that it accepts that aside of its borders there are open minded societies, open societies, democracies.

‘‘In the end there is no aggression coming from the member states of the European Union, there is no aggression coming from Nato, and all questions of common security could be solved and discussed. There is a willingness to do so.’’

Scholz concluded, to a round of applause from the audience: ‘‘We can come back to a peace order that worked and make it safe again if there is a willingness in Russia to go back to this peace order.’’

His comments appear to put him at odds with some Putin-sceptic Nato allies such as Poland and the Baltic states, which are intensely reluctant to make concessions to the Kremlin and mistrustful of its readiness to uphold any postwar peace agreement.