| Translate This News In |
|---|
According to his spokesperson’s statement to AFP, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier made an unexpected trip to Ukraine on Tuesday.
His visit is his first to the nation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and it came five months after Steinmeier was ignored by Kyiv, who at the time had been harshly critical of him for his decades-long detente policy with Moscow.
The opposition in Germany criticised the president for having to cancel a trip at the last minute last week due to security concerns.
According to a statement from his spokeswoman, he stated, “I am looking forward to my meeting with (Ukrainian) President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.”
Steinmeier will travel to a town in the country’s north near the Belarusian border before meeting Zelensky, which Ukraine claims has been freed of Russian forces but has had much of its infrastructure damaged.
The municipality’s energy infrastructure would receive assistance from Steinmeier, he said.
Steinmeier told the Ukrainians, “My message to you: You can depend on Germany.”
Former foreign minister Steinmeier received harsh criticism for his long-standing rapprochement policy toward Moscow in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; he has since acknowledged that this was a mistake.
His invitation to visit Kiev in April was declined, causing resentment between the two nations.
Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, then claimed that Kyiv’s refusal to meet Steinmeier had prevented him from visiting the country, which he did finally do in June alongside Mario Draghi of Italy and Emmanuel Macron of France.
Social Democrat Steinmeier, who is currently in his second term as president of Germany, served as foreign minister in two of former chancellor Angela Merkel’s administrations.
He has been a key proponent of the “Wandel durch Handel” (Change via Trade) idea, which contends that building close commercial links can aid in promoting democratic reforms.
Steinmeier also supported the contentious Nord Stream 2 gas project between Germany and Russia, which has now been blocked due to Moscow’s aggressiveness in Ukraine.
However, he has now acknowledged that his detente strategy toward President Vladimir Putin had been incorrect and that there could be “no return to normal with Putin’s Russia.”
