2023-05-14 00:43:32
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Germany on Sunday for his first visit since the outbreak of war. “I’m already in Berlin,” Zelenskyj tweeted at around 12:30 a.m. He did not give any details regarding the program. Rather, he praised the German support in the war. “Weapons. Strong package. Air defence. Reconstruction. EU. NATO. Security,” he wrote in telegram style. Selenskyj is expected to meet with Chancellor Olaf Scholz later in the day.
It was eagerly awaited whether Zelenskyy would also meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Last year, Steinmeier’s visit to Kiev fell through following being unloaded. Steinmeier was accused of his role as Germany’s foreign minister in the wake of Russia’s first aggression once morest Ukraine in 2014.
At a meeting with Scholz, the Ukrainian president might also be interested in finding out how the German chancellor imagines the end of the war to be, said Christian Mölling from the German Society for Foreign Relations. “Does Germany want a Ukrainian victory or should it be enough if the war ends,” said Mölling. Selenskyj was last in Germany in February of the previous year. A few days before the start of Russian aggression once morest his country, he took part in the Munich Security Conference.
Only on Saturday did the German federal government announce a new multi-billion dollar weapons package for Ukraine. The country will receive military aid worth around 2.7 billion euros, the Ministry of Defense said. “With this valuable contribution of urgently needed military material, we are showing once once more that Germany is serious regarding its support,” said Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Among other things, 30 Leopard 1 tanks, 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, more than 200 reconnaissance drones, four Iris-T air defense systems as well as ammunition and more than 100 armored vehicles would be delivered.
Selenskyj had apparently come to Germany from Italy. On Saturday he met President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis in Rome. While Meloni reiterated her support for Ukraine’s defensive war once morest Russia, Zelenskyy’s meeting with Francis revealed clear differences. The Ukrainian President rejected possible mediation efforts by the Vatican and instead demanded that the Vatican join Kiev’s ten-point peace plan.
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 followingnoon. 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. Previous laureates include German ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Pope Francis and former Austrian Chancellor Franz Vranitzky (SPÖ) are among the previous laureates.
On Saturday Selenskyj met President Sergio Mattarella, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis in the Italian capital Rome.
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