Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday stressed his support for Ukraine's sovereignty and defended Germany's commitment to free speech in a push-back against recent broadsides from the Trump administration.

As US President Donald Trump has reached out to Russia, feuded with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and threatened to sideline Europe, Scholz said that "Germany and Europe must stick to their own positions".

Speaking at his last major campaign event before Sunday's elections, Scholz pledged that "we won't leave Ukraine alone and decide things over their heads and we will ensure that Ukraine is a country that can choose its own government".

Germany has been Kyiv's second-biggest supplier of military aid after the United States since Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.

Scholz also pushed back at accusations from Trump's inner circle, including tech billionaire Elon Musk and Vice President JD Vance who called Germany's policies against online hate crime "Orwellian".

Musk has strongly supported the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and, on the day of Trump's inauguration, performed a right-arm gesture that some interpreted as a Nazi salute, a charge he has firmly rejected.

"I have nothing against people becoming billionaires but becoming a billionaire because you want the right to insult people and break the law is not acceptable," Scholz said.

"We in Europe will stick to our rules, for example that Nazi symbols are banned in Germany."

Meanwhile, Zelensky said after a flurry of phone calls with leaders of allied countries that Europe must do "much more" to bring about peace.

After speaking to the leaders of countries including Germany and Poland on Friday, Zelensky said in his televised evening address that "Europe must and can do much more to ensure that peace is actually achieved" in Ukraine. (AFP)