[OutsiderFan]

German Chancellor Shultz had some quite interesting comments yesterday.

To summarize, he said Germany now recognizes the gravity of the situation, how it is essential that Ukraine prevail, and that means more German military and financial support for Ukraine. This likely also means further divestiture from Russian energy. 

I don't know if this will have a significant impact on the ground or not, but in terms of political will, it seems like it is meaningful. Having Germany "all-in" on Ukraine is important, IMO.

Don't read too much into what Sholz says. He has his own serious political problems to deal with and will say lots of things to mitigate them. He will also say the opposite when he thinks that is to his advantage, or he will say something and do nothing (as he has been). The energy problem in Germany is real and consciousness of this is indeed increasing. How the public will actually respond is anybodies guess. It would be nice if the Chancellor was leading the public, but IMHO he is simply chasing public approval.

Of course actions are what matters. He could be lying, but heads of state don't typically lie about making such commitments. When listening to Sholz speak, my interpretation was that Germany would have liked to do more previously, but we weren't equipped. It was like the original perspective was we can't stop Russia, so let's let Ukraine fall, and not suffer much ourselves. Now it's more like Ukraine actually might win and we can rid ourselves of the Russian menace if we step up.

[OutsiderFan]

German Chancellor Shultz had some quite interesting comments yesterday.

To summarize, he said Germany now recognizes the gravity of the situation, how it is essential that Ukraine prevail, and that means more German military and financial support for Ukraine. This likely also means further divestiture from Russian energy. 

I don't know if this will have a significant impact on the ground or not, but in terms of political will, it seems like it is meaningful. Having Germany "all-in" on Ukraine is important, IMO.

Don't read too much into what Sholz says. He has his own serious political problems to deal with and will say lots of things to mitigate them. He will also say the opposite when he thinks that is to his advantage, or he will say something and do nothing (as he has been). The energy problem in Germany is real and consciousness of this is indeed increasing. How the public will actually respond is anybodies guess. It would be nice if the Chancellor was leading the public, but IMHO he is simply chasing public approval.

Of course actions are what matters. He could be lying, but heads of state don't typically lie about making such commitments. When listening to Sholz speak, my interpretation was that Germany would have liked to do more previously, but we weren't equipped. It was like the original perspective was we can't stop Russia, so let's let Ukraine fall, and not suffer much ourselves. Now it's more like Ukraine actually might win and we can rid ourselves of the Russian menace if we step up.