Sholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 members voted against him and 116 abstained. That left him far short of the majority of 367 needed to win.The elections for a new parliament will take place on February 23.The governing coalition, which had consisted of three political parties, was shaken when Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner in November.Lindner’s pro-business Free Democrats then quit the coalition government, robbing Scholz of a majority in parliament.

Scholz centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens will continue running the country without parliamentary backing until a new government is formed.Monday’s move came after months of infighting over fiscal priorities and debt spending.

Earlier this month, a hung parliament in neighbouring France toppled the country’s prime minister with no confidence vote.The crisis in France prompted President Emanuel Macron to name centrist politician Francois Bayrou as new prime minister without triggering a new election. But it highlighted the intensifying political rifts in EU countries amid economic uncertainty and the war in Ukraine.

In Germany, Scholz – who previously served as mayor of Hamburg and finance minister before becoming the head of a new government in 2021 – accused the Free Democrats of wanting to block investment in the country.Seen as a continuity candidate when he took over from Angela Merkel three years ago, he hasframed next year’s election as an opportunity for voters to set a new course, casting the vote as achoice between a future of growth versus one of austerity.If he is given a second term, Scholz said he would invest heavily in Germany’s creaking infrastructure and would not make the spending cuts he said the conservatives want.Scholz and the leader of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, who polls suggest is likely to be the next chancellor, clashed in a debate before Monday’s vote, accusing each other of incompetence.“Shortsightedness might save money in the short term, but the mortgage on our future is unaffordable,” Scholz told lawmakers.Merz told Scholz that his spending plans would burden future generations and accused the chancellor of failing to deliver on promises of rearmament since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The conservative leader has been a vocal backer of giving Ukraine German-made Taurus missiles, which could be used to strike targets inside Russia.Scholz, by contrast, has refused to supply them to Kyiv, suggesting that such moves could plunge Berlin into a fiercer conflict with with Moscow.Both Scholz and Merz are staunch supporters of Israel. Germany is one of the top suppliers of weapons to Israel, which has been accused by rights groups of carrying out a genocide in Gaza.

Ahead of the February vote, the conservatives have a comfortable, albeit narrowing lead of more than 10 percentage points over the SPD in most polls.The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of Scholz’s party while the Greens are in fourth place.The mainstream parties have refused to govern with the AfD, but its presence complicates parliamentary politics, making unwieldy three-way coalitions like Scholz’s more likely.Meanwhile, the chancellor has outlined a list of urgent measures that he could pass before the elections, including 11 billion euros ($11.6bn) of tax cuts and an increase in child benefits.

In a statement announcing his visit on Monday, Scholz said the military aid will be delivered this month, amid Ukraine’s renewed effort to defend its territory, about 20 percent of which has been occupied by Russia.

The visit, his second since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, comes amid uncertainty before President-elect Donald Trump takes the reins at the White House and as Russian forces make territorial gains.

“I travelled to Kyiv tonight: by train through a country that has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for over 1,000 days,” Scholz said in a post on X.

“I would like to make it clear here on the ground that Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe.

“Ukraine can rely on Germany – we say what we do. And we do what we say.”

During his visit, Scholz will hold talks with Zelenskyy, who is set to push NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance at a meeting in Brussels later this week.

Zelenskyy had recently criticised Scholz after the German leader held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ways to end the war. The Ukrainian leader had said the move would open a “Pandora’s box” by weakening Putin’s international isolation.

Scholz’s visit also comes as he faces a tough battle for re-election at a snap vote in February after his coalition collapsed in November.

His record of supporting Ukraine has been under scrutiny both from those who wanted him to do more to help Kyiv and, on the other side, those voters who want Germany to pull back from sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Putin is dragging Asia into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and the deployment of North Korean troops.

“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests,” Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing.

Amid the continuing military advance by Russia into Ukraine, Zelenskyy said Ukraine must find diplomatic solutions to retake some of its occupied territory.

He said such steps could be considered “only when we know that we are strong enough”, he said in an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo published on Monday.

Zelenskyy said Trump and his team were studying the Ukrainian “victory plan” and expected additional talks with them to explain “certain things in more detail”, according to the report.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 110 drones into the country overnight. One of the drones hit a residential building in the western city of Ternopil, killing one person and injuring several others.

Of the 110 drones, the air force shot down 52 and 50 were “lost”, likely due to electronic warfare, it said.

One drone remained in Ukrainian airspace and six of the drones headed towards Belarus and Russia, the air force added.