Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke to his Ukrainian colleague Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone on Thursday. It was the first direct contact between the two since Ukraine refused a visit by the Federal President to Ukraine in mid-April, triggering a diplomatic scandal. The conversation should have lasted about 45 minutes.
In the telephone call, Steinmeier expressed “solidarity, respect and support for the courageous struggle of the Ukrainian people against the Russian aggressors” to the Ukrainian President, the Office of the Federal President said afterwards. Both heads of state described “the conversation as very important and very good”. “Irritations from the past” have been cleared up. And both presidents had agreed to “remain in close contact”.
During a visit to Romania on Wednesday, Steinmeier said when asked how things should go after Zelenskiy had been uninvited: “We Germans support Ukraine with all our hearts.” He also expresses this support during visits like this one to Romania, “and of course also in exchange with my Ukrainian counterpart – if that’s possible”. Selensky has now accepted this renewed offer of talks.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had criticized Steinmeier’s unloading by Ukraine in an unusually clear manner in the past few days. The conversation between the two presidents now shows that both sides want a better relationship. The fact that Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) wants to travel to Ukraine should also contribute to this.
Bundestag President Bas wants to go to Ukraine
Bas wanted “at the invitation of her Ukrainian counterpart to commemorate all the victims of the Second World War and to hold political talks with him,” said the spokeswoman for the President of the Bundestag Süddeutsche Zeitung. She did not want to give a date yet. However, the World War II commemoration in Ukraine is on May 8th, that is, this Sunday.
“Such trips require careful and intensive coordination, also with the Ukrainian side and the responsible security authorities,” said the spokeswoman. Please understand that no further information is possible. The internal planning for the trip has been going on “since the beginning of April”. But “the constantly changing security situation must be observed”. In the past few days there have been Russian rocket attacks on Ukrainian railway systems, which have severely disrupted train traffic.
Bas would be the highest-ranking German politician to go to Ukraine since the Russian attack began. Among others, CDU leader Friedrich Merz and the chairmen of the Bundestag committees for defense, Europe and foreign affairs – Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), Anton Hofreiter (Greens) and Michael Roth (SPD) – were in the country.