Ukraine rejects official visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: The rejection came while Steinmeier was meeting his Polish counterpart in Warsaw. The German president has recently been criticized for his closeness to Russia.
Ukraine rejects official visit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier: The rejection came while Steinmeier was meeting his Polish counterpart in Warsaw. The German president has recently been criticized for his closeness to Russia.
13 comments
A bit counterproductive no?
Or do people think this kind of action would change Germanys stance in any positive way for Ukraine?
Will Zelensky reject Erdogan’s visit as well? I wonder.
Eventually Zelensky is going to overplay that card. He knows he can insult and goad the leaders of countries he needs help from because there will be popular pressure from the electorate in those countries. But fatigue will eventually set in and that popular support will start to fall off.
> Melnyk told the Tagesspiegel newspaper that the German president had not been serious about his break with Russia. He added that people connected to Steinmeier like Jens Plötner, foreign policy advisor to Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andreas Michaelis, as well as many important ambassadors, also share Steinmeier’s close relations with Moscow.
>Steinmeier was close to former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, whose ties to Russia after retirement have become increasingly notorious. He also had two stints as foreign minister before becoming president, including when Crimea was annexed.
Basically, Steinmeier wants to have a cake and eat it.
Undiplomatic and probably unnecessary on Ukraine’s part, but well deserved by Steinmeier.
I’m glad people are not soft on SPD. They got us in trouble in the first place.
Sounds like a diplomatic blunder, I wonder how Germany will react
Germany is undermining NATO unity on Russia. You cant trust them. Their plan was to push USA out of Europe together with Putin.
[Relevant article](https://www.dw.com/en/german-president-frank-walter-steinmeier-under-fire-for-russia-ties/a-61344699) from 03.04
FYI, the German president is pretty much a glorified ribbon cutter. He has no actual power. It’s not like he could decide to help Ukraine beyond what Germany is doing now. Most he could do was take a message back to the actual people in power. So this visit would not have helped Ukraine all that much, but still have taken time and effort to arrange. Makes sense to refuse it, especially given his previous ties to Russia.
If the German PM would offer to visit, I doubt they would reject that.
Haven’t seen here yet: current president Steinmeier (representative role, actual head of executive government is the Chancellor) was Germany’s minister of foreign while the Crim was annexed. So. I guess the remembered that.
A well-deserved (diplomatic) slap in the face.
Cut off the financial and equipment aid then.
If they don’t want the head of state, they surely don’t want our weapons and money.
Steinmeier is a massive cunt but how can you reject his visit? He’s the head of state for fucks sake. Someone with good ties to Russia could maybe help to stop this war.