Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to declare his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Kyiv undesirable has disappointed German politicians and warns that the move could boomerang. Steinmeier, considered a symbol of Germany’s soft line in Moscow before the invasion of Ukraine, had planned to visit Kyiv on Wednesday with the presidents of Poland and the three Baltic states, but the German president had to cancel the trip. – which had not been made public in advance for security reasons – after Kyiv said it was not welcome. The move was a humiliation for Steinmeier – a former foreign minister closely linked to Berlin’s previous policy of pursuing close economic and diplomatic ties with Russia – but also for Germany as a whole. As federal president, Steinmeier is the highest representative of the German state. The fact that Zelensky announced his decision a few hours before Steinmeier’s planned secret trip, after days of preparation between Berlin and Kiev, and that Ukrainian officials had leaked embarrassment to the German tabloid Bild, deepened German diplomacy. In an official statement, a government spokesman expressed a sober reaction, saying Steinmeier “took and is taking a very clear and unequivocal position on Ukraine’s side” and stressed that he had also directly addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to respect its sovereignty. Others were more critical. “While I understand the real threat to Ukraine from the Russian invasion, I expect the Ukrainian delegates to adhere to a minimum level of diplomatic etiquette and not to interfere unjustifiably in our domestic politics,” said Rolf Mützenich, a member of the – left the Social Democrats, Steinmeier’s party and Chancellor Olaf Soltz. Michael Roth, chairman of the Bundestag’s foreign affairs committee, told POLITICO he was “disappointed” by Zelenskyy’s decision. “He [Steinmeier] would have traveled as the highest representative of our country with a clear message: We stand by Ukraine – in words and deeds. “It’s a shame,” said Roth, who is also a Social Democrat. Roth visited western Ukraine on Tuesday along with two other leading members of the German ruling coalition – Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), chairman of the Bundestag’s defense committee and Anton Hofreiter of the Greens. , the chairman of the Committee on European Affairs. The trio met with Ukrainian lawmakers, and Roth emphasized that the dialogue was valuable. “We were welcomed with open arms in Ukraine. “In our talks we were able to clarify and clarify many things,” he said. Strack-Zimmerman told ZDF that Zelensky’s decision was “not friendly” but also expressed some understanding: “Nerves are raw everywhere,” he said, adding that the case should be dealt with “behind the scenes” rather than “behind the scenes”. public. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, told ARD television that Zelenskyy wanted Chancellor Scholz, instead of Steinmeier, to come to Kyiv and announce the supply of more weapons. “Our president is waiting for the chancellor to take immediate practical decisions, including the surrender of arms,” Arestovic said. While Steinmeier is the head of state, his role is rather symbolic. Executive power belongs to Scholz as chancellor. Solz is slow to decide whether to supply German tanks and heavy weapons to Ukraine despite pressure from coalition partners. FDP MP Wolfgang Kubicki warned that if Zelensky really aimed to push Scholz to visit Kyiv and declare a new level of military support, the Ukrainian leader’s actions could be counterproductive. “I can not imagine the chancellor of a government supported by the FDP traveling to a country that declares the head of state of our country an undesirable person,” Kubicki told the German news agency DPA. Jacques Schuster, editor-in-chief of the German newspaper Welt, argued that “Zelenskyy should not go overboard”, noting that Germany was “Kiev’s largest [financial] donor from [initial] “Russian invasion of Ukraine.” Zelensky’s move came on Tuesday, the same day that Germany’s Security Council met to discuss possible deliveries of German tanks to Ukraine. But there was no immediate indication of a change of position. A government spokesman said: “Our stance is unchanged: We have supplied weapons, we continue to supply them, but we are not talking about qualities, quantities or dates.”
