Selenskyj on Sunday in Germany

2023-05-13 19:35:00

Government circles in Berlin had confirmed the visit to the German Press Agency on Saturday. However, Zelenskyy’s exact program has not yet been announced. However, there was speculation that the guest from Kiev would be received by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).

The Charlemagne Prize for European Merit, which Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian people had already been awarded in December, will be presented in Aachen on Sunday afternoon. The Charlemagne Prize is not endowed. In justifying the award, Zelenskyy’s role in repelling the Russian attack was highlighted: he was not just the president of his people and the supreme commander of the Ukrainian army. He is “also the motivator, communicator, the motor and the link between Ukraine and the large phalanx of supporters”.

Last year, the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya and two fellow campaigners received the Charlemagne Prize, in 2021 the Romanian President Klaus Iohannis. Germany’s ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis are among the previous winners.

On Saturday Selenskyj met President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis in the Italian capital Rome.

Selenskyj with the Pope in Rome — Significant differences between the Pope and President Selenskyj
Bild: HANDOUT (VATICAN MEDIA)

Clear differences between the Pope and Zelenskyj

There are apparently clear differences between the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Pope Francis with regard to a possible mediating role of the Vatican in the Russo-Ukrainian war. After meeting the Pope in the Vatican on Saturday afternoon, according to Kathpress, Zelenskyy said on Italian television in the evening: “It was an honor for me to meet His Holiness, but he knows my position. The war is in Ukraine and the peace plan must be Ukrainian We are very interested in winning over the Vatican to our peace formula.”

Zelenskyy went on to say: “With all due respect to His Holiness, we don’t need intermediaries. We need a just peace. We invite the pope as well as all other leaders to work for a just peace, but first we have to do the rest.” With a view to a possible negotiated peace, Zelenskyj said: “You can’t negotiate with Putin, no country in the world can do that.”

Tense posture

Meanwhile, the Vatican portal Vatican News circulated footage of the Ukrainian President’s meeting with the Pope, showing Zelenskyy sitting down in front of his host and not rising to greet another person while the Pope remained standing. Pictures of the long conversation with the pope, in which detailed speeches were on the table in front of Zelenskyj, showed Pope Francis and his guest in a tense posture.

Apparently, the two sides agreed on the issue of humanitarian mediation by the Holy See regarding Ukrainian children deported to Russia. Zelenskyy stressed on Twitter after his meeting with Pope Francis that this was a separate point in the talks.

The Vatican said the President of Ukraine also spoke to Vatican Foreign Minister Paul Gallagher after his meeting with the Pope. Nothing was initially known about the content of this conversation.