Russian propagandists claim that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz allegedly said that Ukraine may not become a NATO member in the next 30 years. “You know the solution, this will not happen in the near future. Perhaps not even in the next 30 years”, Scholz said during a meeting with Berlin residents. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that in fact Scholz noted at this meeting in Berlin that before the full-scale invasion, discussing Ukraine's entry into NATO, he assured Putin: “This is not being considered for the next 30 years”. Scholz also accused Putin of attacking Ukraine for “absolutely absurd” reasons, since “NATO has never posed a threat to Russia”.

After the old quote was again picked up by Russian propaganda, the German government commented on the information being disseminated. According to government spokesman Steffen Gebestreit, the situation “has completely changed, and therefore, no, 30 years are no longer relevant”.

During the decade of war in Ukraine, Russian propaganda regularly spread manipulations and fake news that Ukraine would not be accepted into NATO or the EU. Thus, they want to cause skepticism and panic among Ukrainians regarding the actions of their Western partners.