Scholz does not travel to Kyiv because Steinmeier was unloaded – Melnyk: “Insulted liver sausage”
“Half the world has already been to Kyiv – just not the Federal Chancellor”
Friedrich Merz travels to Kyiv before Chancellor Olaf Scholz. It is not known whether the CDU leader was invited by President Selenskyj. What does Friedrich Merz want in Ukraine? WELT political correspondent Thorsten Jungholt with the analysis.
The Chancellor explained on ZDF that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s disinvitation was the reason why he currently had no plans to visit Kyiv. It was “a remarkable event”. The Ukrainian ambassador reacted promptly.
BOn Monday evening on ZDF, undescancer Olaf Scholz (SPD) energetically rejected the accusation that he was too hesitant about politics in the Ukraine. “I’ve always made quick decisions, coordinated with the allies. But my course is that we act prudently and with a clear mind,” said Scholz.
Every single decision must be carefully considered, he said in the program “What now, Mr. Scholz?”. And it is very clear: “Our help – financial and military – has helped the Ukrainian army, which is acting very successfully, to be able to hold out for so long against such an overpowering opponent.”
Scholz emphasized: “Every decision involves always thinking: What further consequences does that have? Therefore, it makes no sense to act rashly and to do or not do something just because someone is shouting loudly.” He must do what he swore his oath of office to do. Namely, to ensure that peace is secured here and at the same time to protect Germany.
Scholz justified the fact that he still has no concrete plans for a visit to Kyiv with the fact that the Ukrainian government had uninvited Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. This was “a remarkable process”. “It gets in the way,” he said.
The fact that the Federal President, who had just been re-elected by the Federal Assembly with an overwhelming majority, had been declared an undesirable person, “you can’t do that”. Germany has given Ukraine a lot of military and economic aid. So it can’t be that you then say, “But the President can’t come”.
The aim of the war is that Ukraine can live in peace and freedom. “Our goal is for the fighting to end immediately, for Russia to end the war and withdraw its soldiers from Ukraine,” said Scholz. “Russia must not win, and Ukraine must not lose.” A dictated peace prescribed by Vladimir Putin should not exist. Russia must withdraw from the territory of Ukraine. The annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 also remains a breach of international law.
Scholz again called on former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) to resign from his posts at Russian state-owned companies. It was “completely unacceptable, impossible at the latest since the beginning of the war” for the former Federal Chancellor to continue to perform these tasks, he said. However, he also emphasized that a Chancellor could not “give any orders” to his predecessor.
The Ukrainian Ambassador Andriy Melnyk immediately sharply criticized Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s provisional no to a trip to Kyiv. “Playing an offended liverwurst doesn’t sound very statesmanlike,” Melnyk told the German Press Agency. “It’s about the most brutal war of annihilation since the Nazi attack on Ukraine, it’s not a kindergarten.”
Melnyk also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would still be happy to receive Scholz in Kyiv. However, he added: “What Ukraine would look forward to much more than any symbolic visits is that the traffic light government will swiftly implement the Bundestag’s proposal for the delivery of heavy weapons and fulfill the previous commitments.” that no ammunition had yet been found for the promised Gepard anti-aircraft tanks. The tanks are the first heavy weapons to be delivered directly from Germany to Ukraine.
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