"This is not the objective of NATO, nor that of the US president", Scholz said in an interview with the German broadcaster ARD, adding that he had discussed the issue with US President Joe Biden at the White House and both of the leaders agreed that "regime change" in Russia is not a NATO policy goal.
Scholz added that Germany supports the spread of democracy but believes that it is up to the people and nations to fight for it.
The chancellor also said that Germany will work on eliminating dependence on Russian energy imports and expects its dependence on Russian coal and oil to significantly diminish this year.
During a Saturday speech in Warsaw, Biden stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power". A White House official said on Saturday that Biden's remark did not endorse a regime change in Russia but rather suggested that "Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region".
Asked by a reporter whether he was calling for a "regime change", Biden said "no," when leaving a church service in Washington on Sunday.
The West scaled up its pressure on Moscow after Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine in the early hours of 24 February. The move came after the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) appealed for help in defending themselves against Kiev's forces. Russia said that the aim of its special operation is to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" Ukraine and that only military infrastructure is being targeted - the civilian population is not in danger. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.
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