In a historic announcement to parliament, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has said a fund of €100bn will be set up immediately to boost the strength of the country’s armed forces, as he also announced a sustained increase in defence spending over the coming years, writes The Guardian.

Scholz admitted that the urgency of the Ukraine crisis had forced Germany’s decision to invest in the military, telling the emergency session of the Bundestag: “It is clear that we must invest significantly more in the security of our country, in order to protect our freedom and democracy”.

He called it “Germany’s historical responsibility” to ensure that Vladimir Putin “does not turn the clocks back”.

“Putin will not change course overnight. But very soon the Russian leadership will feel the high price it has to pay. The war is a catastrophe for Ukraine, but it will also prove to be a catastrophe for Russia”, - Scholz added.

The German leader accused the Russian president of “creating a Russian empire”.

“Putin wants to create a Russian Empire. He wants to recreate the order within Europe and he has no fear of using military might to achieve it. And we"re seeing this in Ukraine today”, - Scholz said.