After Steinmeier was unloaded: What next for Ukraine?

Ukraine has turned down a visit from Federal President Steinmeier. This makes the debate about a possible trip by Chancellor Scholz, arms deliveries and an oil embargo all the more heated.

Was Kiev’s rejection of German head of state Frank-Walter Steinmeier a wake-up call for the German government to do more for Ukraine quickly – or was it a strategic mistake that was unnecessarily straining relations at a critical stage? A debate about this has now flared up in Germany.

The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth, couldn’t believe the news at first: “I was completely taken aback because it is important to have talks right now. I very much regret that and I just hope that no permanent damage will result from it.” , said the SPD politician WDR5.

Strack-Zimmermann calls cancellation “foolish”

Roth has just returned from a trip to western Ukraine that he made yesterday together with the Green MP Anton Hofreiter and the FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. Strack-Zimmermann called the rejection to the ARD Capital Studio “Foolish”: “It’s nonsensical to believe that if you unload him, the chancellor would serve even faster.”

Chancellor Olaf Scholz had expressly invited the Ukrainian government. It’s no secret that Steinmeier’s rejection was due to his – from the Ukrainian point of view – overly friendly treatment of Russia during his years in office as foreign minister – that is, in the past. But the question is: What does it mean for the future?

Rapid oil embargo demanded

For the chairman of the Europe Committee, Hofreiter, the trip made the urgency of German action even clearer: “It has become clear how badly Ukraine is suffering from the criminal attack. And how important it is that we come to an energy embargo and finally deliver significantly more weapons to Ukraine,” said the Green politician hr info.

All three travelers are in favor of a rapid oil embargo against Russia. A step that Germany and the EU had so far shied away from.

“Of course the chancellor is in demand”

And then there is the issue of heavy weapons. In view of an impending Russian offensive, Ukraine desperately wants tank deliveries from Germany, among other things. “It is to be feared that Russia will make a second attempt to roll up the country from the east,” said CDU foreign policy expert Jürgen Hardt ARD morning magazine. “Putin must not win this war, not even in this second attempt. And that’s why we are well advised to do it now.”

As far as the traffic light is concerned, the FDP and Greens had recently shown themselves to be convinced that the delivery of heavy weapons would be right and necessary. Only in the SPD and also in the Chancellery were there concerns.

This hesitation should now be turned into action as soon as possible, Strack-Zimmermann recommends to Scholz: “Of course the chancellor is in demand. He has the authority to set guidelines. He can specify how he imagines that Ukraine will be supported. Do that we, we do a lot, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.” According to the chair of the Defense Committee, one actually knows exactly what needs to be done to help Ukraine.