German chancellor Olaf Scholz discusses Russian attacks, energy costs with lawmakers

Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany will train a brige of up to 5,000 Ukrainian troops as part of a European Union training mission approved earlier this week.

EU on Monday approved mission, which will run for two years initially. Its immediate aim is to train about 15,000 troops, chiefly in Poland and Germany, and it’s hoped that mission will be up and running by mid-November.

Scholz told lawmakers in Berlin on Thursday that one of hequarters will be in Germany and “by spring, we will train a full brige of up to 5,000 soldiers.”

Scholz also said “scorched-earth” tactics won’t help Russia win its war in Ukraine and stressed that “deliberate attacks on civilian population are war crimes.”

Scholz also underlined Germany's concerns about idea of a cap on natural gas prices, which many or European Union nations are prepared to embrace.

He told Germany's Parliament before an EU summit starting later Thursday that "a politically set price cap always carries risk that producers n sell ir gas elsewhere - and we Europeans ultimately don't get more gas, but less."

He said EU must consult closely with or gas consumers, such as Japan and South Korea, so that y don't compete with each or; and that it's important to talk with gas producers about "a reasonable price."