Kyiv's unwillingness to host German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is "annoying," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“The president would like to visit Ukraine, it would be right (from Kiev. -

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) to accept him.

I will refrain from further comments.

It's a little annoying, to say the least," he said in an interview with radio station RBB.

At the same time, Scholz himself is not going to visit Ukraine in the near future.

According to him, he was in the republic shortly before the start of the Russian special operation and is in constant contact with President Vladimir Zelensky.

“There is hardly a head of state or government who would have such intense contact with me,” the chancellor noted.

He also expressed confidence that Ukraine "knows exactly who has provided it with the greatest financial assistance in recent years."

“This has been Germany for many years.

It is she who invariably leads in humanitarian and financial assistance, and now also supplies weapons for defense on a large scale, ”said the German politician.

  • German Chancellor Olaf Scholz

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For past "merits"

Recall that Frank-Walter Steinmeier was supposed to visit Ukraine together with the presidents of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on April 13 to demonstrate European solidarity with Ukraine.

However, the visit of the German politician to Kyiv was considered undesirable, according to Steinmeier himself.

“I was ready for this.

But, obviously, I have to take note of this, they didn’t want this in Kyiv, ”the president said in a comment to Western media during a visit to Warsaw.

The Kiev authorities do not voice the reasons for their decision.

However, the Bild newspaper, citing a source in the Ukrainian capital, reported that Steinmeier was denied admission because of his alleged "Russian connections."

“We all know about Steinmeier's close relationship with Russia, which was also influenced by the Steinmeier formula.

At present, he is not welcome in Kyiv,” a Ukrainian diplomat told the publication on condition of anonymity.

We are talking about a mechanism for introducing a special order of governance in the Donbass after the organization of local elections there, proposed by the German president in 2015 and adopted on October 1, 2019 at a meeting of the trilateral contact group to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine.

In addition, earlier the president actively supported the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and called energy relations with Moscow almost the last bridge between Russia and Europe.

Subsequently, he called his position on these issues erroneous, but this did not help him enlist the loyalty of the Ukrainian leadership.

Berlin responded to Kyiv's demarche.

Thus, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said on April 13 that she regrets the decision of the Ukrainian authorities.

“We (with Steinmeier. -

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) discussed this trip together, and I considered it very useful.

The Federal President has already made it clear that he regrets not being able to come.

I also regret this, ”said the head of the Foreign Ministry during a visit to the Malian capital of Bamako.

In turn, the head of the parliamentary faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Rolf Mützenich, said on the same day that Kyiv's actions do not correspond to relations between the two countries.

“With all the understanding of the existential threat posed to Ukraine by the Russian invasion, I expect that Ukrainian representatives will adhere (at least. -

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) to a minimum of traditions of diplomatic practice and will not unjustifiably interfere in the internal politics of our country, ”said the politician.

And the honorary chairman of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and its parliamentary group, Alexander Gauland, called Kyiv's unwillingness to receive Steinmeier an insult.

  • Bundestag

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In the name of weapons

In Ukraine, however, they see no great tragedy in the fact that the German president was not welcomed in Kyiv.

Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities believe that the visit of the chancellor himself would be more appropriate now.

In particular, Aleksey Arestovich, Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated this on April 13 in an interview with the ARD TV channel.

“Our president is waiting for the chancellor so that he can directly make practical decisions, including also the supply of weapons,” Die Welt quoted him as saying.

In the same vein, the Ambassador of Ukraine in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, spoke on the air of the ProSieben and Sat.1 TV channels.

At the same time, he stressed that during such a visit it should be about the provision of heavy weapons by Germany.

Annalena Burbock spoke out for such deliveries on April 11, while Olaf Scholz hesitated to send such weapons to Ukraine.

This was reported by Politico, citing officials familiar with the situation.

Meanwhile, as Markus Faber, an expert on defense issues of the Free Democratic Party faction, said on Twitter, the ruling coalition in Germany nevertheless agreed on the supply of heavy weapons to Kiev.

Didn't go through rehab

Experts interviewed by RT note that in Kyiv, most likely, they could not forgive Frank-Walter Steinmeier for his past cautious policy towards Russia.

“After all, Steinmeier to the end advocated maintaining, among other things, economic relations with Russia, for the construction of Nord Stream 2.

His last statements that it was a mistake on his part could not rehabilitate him in the eyes of Kyiv.

Obviously, such a position and the absence of harsh rhetoric against Russia just made Kyiv consider him, let's say, a supporter of the Russian Federation, ”explained Alexander Kamkin, a leading researcher at the Center for German Studies at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

“The Ukrainian authorities are now spoiled by the direct support of Washington and no longer consider it necessary to have any diplomatic conventions in relation to the countries of Europe.

Zelensky today is already behaving completely recklessly, since for him only the opinion of the United States is in authority, ”says Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries.

According to Alexander Kamkin, the arrogance of Kyiv in recent times defies any assessment.

“On the one hand, Kyiv demands the supply of weapons, on the other hand, it chooses which of the European politicians to talk to and which not.

Therefore, in general, this can be regarded as an extremely offensive attitude for Europe.

But due to certain political circumstances, they turn a blind eye to such non-diplomatic actions for the time being, ”the expert said.

However, as Vladimir Zharikhin noted, such an attitude of Ukraine was a consequence of the fact that Europe and Germany, in particular, lost their subjectivity under pressure from the United States.

At the same time, Alexander Kamkin suggested that in the long run such a dismissive attitude will come back to haunt Ukraine itself.  

  • President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

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“Even the statements of Ambassador Melnik sometimes caused a rather sharp reaction from official Berlin.

Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the actions of Kyiv in the aggregate can change the attitude of European politicians towards the current situation, ”the analyst added.

Rostislav Ishchenko, president of the Center for System Analysis and Forecasting, has a different opinion.

According to him, today Europe is under too much influence from across the ocean, therefore, even without sharing all the views and approaches of the United States, it is forced to adhere to them.

That is why, he explained in a conversation with RT, Kyiv does not fear that his actions will deprive Ukraine of support from the same Germany.

“Berlin's attitude towards Kiev is determined not by the national interests of Germany, but by the pan-European position, which proceeds not from the interests of the EU, but from the interests of the United States.

Europe has adopted a concept in which, in the current crisis, it simply follows in the footsteps of the United States and implements the decisions made in Washington.

Therefore, in this regard, the Kiev leadership does not risk anything and allows itself antics against European politicians,” Ishchenko concluded.