Ukraine, Zelensky: “Steinmeier’s visit never received”

Amid the tensions between Berlin and Kiev over the latter’s refusal to invite Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Volodymyr Zelensky says Berlin never proposed the German president’s potential visit to Kiev. “I as president and my office have never received an official request from the federal president and his office regarding a visit to Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president told the press last night, according to UNIAN news agency, after having received the presidents of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia on a mission in which Steinmeier also wanted to participate. But his presence would not have been welcome in Kiev, according to what was revealed. Read also The diplomatic outrage provoked harsh reactions in Berlin from Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other representatives of the German government and parties. “The federal president really wanted to go to Ukraine and meet President Zelensky – said Scholz, referring to the trip to Kiev that Steinmeier should have made together with the Polish president and the three Baltic republics – He is the head of the German state, who is he was re-elected for his contribution by a large transversal majority. This is also why it would have been positive if they had received him “. That said, when asked by radio Rbb24 if he considered the stop in Kiev an insult, the chancellor replied sharply: “I don’t want to comment. It’s something irritating, to put it mildly”.