“Unwanted” in Kyiv is said to be the Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeierat least according to what he revealed to journalists during his visit to Warsaw today.
The reason is his policy towards Russia as Foreign Minister, which has been repeatedly criticized by the Ukrainian side.
According to Mr. Steinmeier, The presidents of Germany, Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia were due to travel to Kyiv next Thursday.in order to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “I would like to take this opportunity to send a strong message of European solidarity to Ukraine. I was ready for that, but obviously – and I have to take it into account – this was not desirable from Kyiv. “said the German President from Poland.
Lately, the Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andri Melnik has been highly critical of Mr Steinmeier for his policies, first as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Gerhard Schroeder and then as Secretary of State. “For Steinmeier, the relationship with Russia was and remains something fundamental, even sacred, whatever happens. War does not matter either. It has been building a spider web of contacts with Russia for decades. “said recently Mr Melnik at Tagesspiegelwhile criticizing the Federal President for the fact that he organized a concert of solidarity for Ukraine, but only German and Russian soloists participated in it. “Steinmeier seems to share the idea that Ukrainians are not really a nation”commented the ambassador.
“We know all of Steinmeier’s close relations with Russia, which were also shaped by the Steinmeier system. He is not welcome in Kyiv. We will see if that changes “he stated Ukrainian diplomat in BILDwhich states that from the Kiev side there was a clear statement to the German presidency, that at the moment the Ukrainian side is not ready for such a meeting, without however ruling out such a thing in the future.
Mr Steinmeier, however, recently acknowledged the mistakes of his previous policy towards Russia. In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine, he said he regretted his long-standing commitment to building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and called for Vladimir Putin to be brought before the International Criminal Court.
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