German politicians reacted with obvious annoyance yesterday Wednesday to the refusal of the Ukrainian leadership to receive Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Kyiv.
“Insult”, “somewhat annoying”: the descriptions of this gesture of the Ukrainian government vary in Berlin, where there is even talk of interfering in German politics.
Mr Steinmeier wanted to travel to Kyiv on Wednesday with Baltic leaders to express German support for Ukraine following the February 24 Russian military invasion. But the federal president, a veteran of German politics and foreign minister for a number of years, revealed on Tuesday that he had been informed that he was considered “undesirable” in Kyiv and that the Ukrainian side had later clarified that it preferred to receive Chancellor Olaf Solz.
Both Mr Steinmeier and Mr Soltz belong to the Social Democrats (SPD).
Last Wednesday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Berlin had never officially announced that such a trip was planned. “I, as president and my office, have never received a formal briefing or request from the federal president or his services regarding a visit to Ukraine,” Zelensky was quoted as saying by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN.
The episode is set against the backdrop of Berlin and Kiev’s counter-claims about German support for the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian government has blamed Germany for many things: a show of force against Russia in the wake of the outbreak of war, a delay in the delivery of heavy weapons demanded by the Ukrainian armed forces, a delay in imposing an embargo on Russian energy.
In any case, the way Mr Steinmeier was treated caused great inconvenience to Germany. For Chancellor Soltz, Kiev’s stance is “somewhat irritating.” “The president wanted to go to Kyiv (…) it would be good to receive him,” he added.
For her part, German Foreign Minister Analena Berbock said she had discussed the planned trip with the federal president and considered it “meaningful”. She expressed her “regret” because it did not happen.
Rolf Mitzenich, a prominent member of the SPD, also described as “sad” the fact that Mr. Steinmeier was not invited, judging that he “wrongs the close and growing ties between our two countries.” In addition, Mr. Mitsenich warned the Ukrainian government against any “interference in internal political issues in our country.”
Wolfgang Kubiki, a senior member of the Free Democrats (FDP), a partner in Olaf Solz’s government, said the gesture may have ruled out a visit by the chancellor to Kyiv. “I can not imagine that the chancellor of a government in which the FDP participates would travel to a country that declared the head of our state an undesirable person,” he told the German Agency.
On the opposition side, Friedrich Mertz, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU), spoke of a “diplomatic insult”, hastening to add sharply to the Rheinische Post that the episode showed the “very deep reservations” of Eastern European politics SPD against Russia.
Adviser to the Ukrainian presidency Oleksiy Arestovich defended the decision not to accept the federal president of Germany, whose office is mainly ceremonial, but Kyiv to invite Chancellor Soltz. “Our president is waiting (in Kyiv) for the chancellor so that immediate, tangible decisions can be made, including decisions on the delivery of weapons to Ukraine,” Arestovich told Germany’s state-run ARD television network on Wednesday.
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