BERLIN -- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz did not comment Monday on reports that Scholz is planning to visit Ukraine with counterparts from France, Italy and Italy.

Weekly Bild am Sonntag reported that Scholz would travel with French President Emmanuel Macron to Kyiv and Italian Premier Mario Draghi Berlin, before the summit of leaders of the Group of Seven major German economies.

In recent weeks, several European leaders, including Germany's opposition leader, and members of Scholz’s Cabinet visited Ukraine to show solidarity in the face Russian military aggression. This has increased the pressure on Scholz to do the same.

Scholz rebuffed questions regarding the travel plans and said that he would not go beyond what his spokesperson had previously told reporters. The spokesperson declined to comment on the reports.

Although Germany has provided significant financial and military assistance to Ukraine following the Russian invasion three month ago, Scholz's government has been criticised both at home as well as abroad for taking longer than the United States or other smaller European countries to do so.

Scholz responded to such criticisms Monday by stating that advanced howitzers Germany provides to Ukraine require extensive training before they are able to be used.

He said, "I believe it would be great if those who voice their opinions on this or another issue spent a moment pondering it first."

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