Scholz says a joint Ukraine approach can be found with Trump

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is confident he will be able to agree with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on a joint strategy for Ukraine after speaking to him on the phone, Scholz told the Funke group of newspapers.

"I am confident that we can develop a joint strategy for Ukraine. My guiding principle remains that nothing can be decided without giving the Ukrainian people a say," he told the paper in an interview.

He added he had spoken with the future U.S. president "in detail" and that his team was in a direct exchange with Trump's security advisers.

Ukraine is shaping up as a major issue in campaigning for Germany's snap election in February, which follows the collapse last month of Scholz's three-party governing coalition in Berlin.

Friedrich Merz, the conservative opposition leader who is on course to unseat Scholz, has said Germany should send Taurus cruise missiles. Scholz has opposed such a move, saying it could escalate the war.

Scholz on Monday announced new military aid for Ukraine during a rare visit to Kyiv that he said sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Berlin would stand by Kyiv for as long as needed in the war.

(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Alison Williams)

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