French President Emmanuel Macron is travelling to Berlin on Friday to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an attempt to ease tensions over aid to Ukraine, according to Politico.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will join the leaders of France and Germany later in the day to mark the first meeting of the “Weimar Triangle,” a dialogue between the three countries.
The leaders expect the meeting to demonstrate unity after a tense period in which Franco-German friction over Ukraine has escalated into open feud. The long-running tensions started escalating in late February when Macron refused to “rule out” sending Western troops to fight in Ukraine.
Then the more cautious Scholz excluded the deployment of ground troops from European countries. Macron responded to the audience in Prague a few days later:
Europe clearly faces a moment when it will be necessary not to be cowards.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius responded that Macron’s comments were “something that does not really help solve the issues we have when it comes to helping Ukraine.” Moreover, German officials privately complained that while Macron was tough on Ukraine, he did not give it the same military support as Germany.
Kiel Institute, which compiles information on national contributions to Ukraine’s war effort, rates France as a clear laggard with military aid of 640 million euros compared to Germany, which has provided or pledged 17.7 billion euros. Paris, for its part, disputes these figures and claims to be providing the weapons that really matter, with Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu claiming:
France has opted for operational efficiency in its military aid to Ukraine: promise what you can deliver, deliver what you can promise.
Macron postponed a long-planned visit to Ukraine this week due to tensions with allies over his increasingly bellicose rhetoric. The Elysee Palace announced on Sunday that the visit would take place in the “next couple of weeks.”
The French president is due to arrive at the chancellery in Berlin around noon on Friday for a bilateral talk with Scholz before participating in a trilateral discussion with Tusk. The inclusion of the Polish prime minister is expected to help smooth long-standing friction between Scholz and Marcone.
