Steinmeier cancels a trip to “send a sign of solidarity” with kyiv by acknowledging that “my presence is not wanted”
Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and the rest of Europe suffered an unprecedented setback on Tuesday in the midst of the war crisis: German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced that he will cancel a planned visit to kyiv to meet with his counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, understanding that “it seems that my presence is unwanted”. The reason is that, in the opinion of the Ukrainian government, Germany still has “too many vested interests” with Russia due to its energy trade with this country.
Steinmeier planned to travel to the former Soviet republic with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania “to send a clear signal of common European solidarity with Ukraine,” the president himself explained on Tuesday. “He wanted to do it but, from the looks of it, I have to admit that my presence is not wanted in kyiv,” he added.
Germany has been in the crosshairs of the Ukrainian government since the start of the war, when the Foreign Ministry refused to send it weapons based on the German rule that prohibits the supply of arsenals to territories at war. Although Olaf Scholz’s cabinet changed its attitude and today is one of the main European suppliers of military equipment to the Ukrainian Army, criticism has continued to focus on its president. Ukraine’s ambassador to Berlin, Andrij Melnik, highlighted this Tuesday, in fact, Steinmeier’s alleged “political closeness” to the Kremlin, based on the role he played as head of Gerhard Schroeder’s Chancellery -in which he developed the gas project with Moscow – and later as Foreign Minister to Angela Merkel.
“Steinmeier has been weaving a spider web of contacts with Russia for decades. Many of those who now rule in the (German) coalition are involved, ”accused the diplomat. The Foreign Ministry later rejected these statements, although it said it “understands” the “exceptional” situation suffered by the former Soviet republic. On the part of the EU there was no reaction either, although it is possible to suppose that Brussels considers the frustrated visit as a private initiative.
“The blood is still fresh”
The refusal to receive Steinmeier occurs on the same day that Zelensky incited the European Union for its dissent regarding the veto of Russian oil when “the blood is still fresh.” The Ukrainian president offered a telematic speech before the Lithuanian Parliament on Tuesday, again, well calculated: this country is the first to cut off its gas supply from Russia earlier this month. In the image of the Lithuanians, Zelensky demanded that each country of the Union establish a specific and urgent date to close the energy tap to Moscow or “significantly” limit the supply. A fact, the latter, that represses several rulers before the repercussion on the bill and the eventuality of having to ask their citizens for less consumption.
However, the president considered that “only in this way will the Russian leaders come to the conclusion that the war is a catastrophe mainly for them.” The Ukrainian leader considered it inconceivable that not even “Bucha’s atrocities” have already led to the energy embargo and that he “does not know if oil will be subject to sanctions.”
Zelenski has tightened the accelerator of the demands in view of the difficulties of a European consensus. If the general embargo is not achieved, the leader would suffer one more setback in his international strategy against Russia. The first was to try to get NATO and the US to become more directly involved in the war – something that the allies reject in order to avoid a third world war -, the second was the failed claim for instant accession to the EU and the third is ostracism economy of Russia, among other factors with the energy closure. “Hundreds of European companies and banks have not only refused to work in the Russian market, but also openly show their contempt in response to demands to stop financing the Russian military machine through their taxes,” Zelensky denounced.
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