Steinmeier originally planned to visit Ukraine in April, but Kiev refused to welcome him then amid concerns about his past support for a Western rapprochement with Russia
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier committed to additional support in Ukraine, particularly in the area of air defense, during an unannounced visit to Kyiv today, the German president’s first since Russia invaded the country on February 24.
Steinmeier originally planned to visit Ukraine in April, but Kiev refused to welcome him at the time amid concern over his past support for a Western rapprochement with Russia. Kyiv and Berlin subsequently resolved their dispute.
“My message to the Ukrainians is: ‘Not only do we stand by you, but we will continue to support Ukraine financially, politically and also militarily,'” Steinmeier said upon his arrival by train in Kyiv.
“What is important now is to help protect Ukrainians from air attacks as much as possible,” he added, noting that Germany has become one of Ukraine’s biggest suppliers of air defense equipment in recent months.
The German head of state, whose role is largely ceremonial, condemned what he called Russia’s “cold war of aggression” against Ukraine and said he looked forward to meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his visit.
In addition to military support, Steinmeier said, his trip will focus on helping to repair damaged infrastructure such as power grids, water pipes and heating systems as quickly as possible before winter sets in.
Social Democrat former foreign minister Steinmeier has expressed regret for his past support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a plan designed to double the flow of Russian gas to Germany but scrapped after the Russian invasion.
He comes from a wing of the Social Democratic Party that has long argued for closer ties with Russia as a way of tying it into a Western-oriented world system.
Steinmeier’s arrival in Kyiv coincided with a conference in Berlin on what its hosts say should be a “Marshall Plan” to rebuild Ukraine, in comparison to US funding of Europe’s post-WWII reconstruction. ‘ World War.
The Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Schmihalwho is participating in the conference, said yesterday, Monday, that the cost of rebuilding his country is estimated so far at almost 750 billion dollars.
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