Visit Ukraine to prove you stand with us, Scholz told
Zelensky insists a meeting with German leader on Russia’s Victory Day would be ‘powerful political step’
CHANCELLOR Olaf Scholz should visit Kyiv for the May 9 holiday marking the end of the Second World War to prove Germany is on Ukraine’s side, Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.
Having previously accused Berlin of being too close to Moscow, the Ukrainian president yesterday insisted such a move would be a “very powerful political step” in proving his loyalties.
He said Kyiv’s door is open to the chancellor, who had refused to travel to the Ukrainian capital over a diplomatic spat.
“He’s invited to come to Ukraine,” Mr Zelensky told a Chatham House event.
“He can make this very powerful political step by coming on May 9.
“Sometimes in history we have to make certain steps for unity... even if there is some kind of coldness in specific relations.”
Vladimir Putin wants to celebrate success in eastern Ukraine on May 9, the anniversary of the Soviet victory over the Nazis.
Relations between Germany and Ukraine have been fraught since the start of the invasion.
Kyiv has repeatedly accused Berlin of dithering on arms shipments and energy sanctions against Russia.
German politicians argue this criticism has been overblown, as they continue to step up their support for Ukraine.
Earlier this week, Mr Scholz said he had no plans to travel to Ukraine because Mr Zelensky had blocked a visit to Kyiv by Frank-walter Steinmeier, Germany’s president.
Mr Steinmeier angered Mr Zelensky over his support for Nord Stream 2, the controversial pipeline built to double Russian gas imports to Germany. But last month he admitted he had made a “mistake” in pushing for the project.
Renewing his criticism of the project, Mr Zelensky said: “Nord Stream 2 or 3 or even North Stream 100, they are not worth anybody’s health and life.”
The German chancellor has overseen a number of significant policy aboutturns in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24.
Berlin dropped its longstanding policy of not sending weapons into conflict zones and promised to ramp up investment in its own defences to meet Nato’s spending target of 2 per cent of GDP.
Arms shipments are set to include seven self-propelled Howitzers, one of Germany’s most powerful weapons. But the decision to send them came only after weeks of sustained pressure by Kyiv and other Western allies.
In a slick campaign video shared on social media by a Ukrainian MP, a woman draped in the national flag is seen towing away two Russian Second World War tanks from the Soviet Memorial in Berlin.
It replicated the efforts of Ukrainian farmers filmed towing away Russian tanks and other captured military hardware.
Lesia Vasylenko, who shared the video, said it sent a “strong message to Germany”.
In a separate speech at a fundraising event at the Ukrainian embassy in London, Mr Zelensky said if all countries had given him the same backing as Britain, the war would have already ended.
“If everyone in the world – or at least the vast majority – were steadfast and courageous leaders as Ukraine, as Britain, I am sure we would have already ended this war and restored peace throughout our liberated territory for all our people,” he said.
At the same event on Thursday night, Boris Johnson said the UK would “continue to intensify” efforts to help Ukraine for as long as it needed.
The Prime Minister has signed off on multiple weapons and humanitarian aid shipments to Kyiv to help repel Moscow’s forces.
Meanwhile, Viktor Orban said the impact of the European Union’s plan to ban imports of Russian oil would be like a “nuclear bomb” being dropped on Hungary’s economy.
The Hungarian prime minister also accused Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission’s president, of breaking apart EU unity with her proposal.
Under her plan for a sixth round of economic sanctions against Moscow, EU countries would phase out supplies of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year.
Talks between EU states broke up without a deal yesterday and are expected to continue this weekend.
Mr Scholz vowed to ensure that Mr Putin loses the war in Ukraine during a speech in Hamburg last week.
“Putin’s hatred of a free Ukraine is greater than his interest in Russia’s economic and social development. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is the greatest catastrophe of our time,” said the leader of Germany’s centre-left SPD.