He addressed an event organized by the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Friday, and the press asked him about the dangers of escalation in Ukraine, given Germany is supplying Kiev with weapons, including Leopard 2 battle tanks, which itself was a deeply controversial move representing an about-face at the time the decision was made.

Currently German officials are debating whether or not to supply Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles, which Moscow would surely view as another major escalation.

When Scholz was asked by a reporter whether there's a danger of Germany becoming "actively involved in the war," he responded by asserting that it is his "aim to prevent this". 

He then said there are currently "no German soldiers in Ukraine and there won't be any," according to his words sited in Russian English-language media — which was quick to seize upon his remarks.