Ukraine wants German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to visit and promise to supply more weapons, Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to Ukraine’s presidential office, said on Wednesday, commenting on Kiev’s decision to reject German President Frank Walter Steinmeier’s offer to visit the war-torn country.
“I think the main argument was different – our president is waiting for the chancellor for him [Šolcs] could make direct practical decisions, including the supply of weapons, “Arestovich told German public television ZDF.
He noted that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky had not tried to offend Berlin by refusing to visit Steinmeier.
The German president has a largely ceremonial role, but decisions are made by the head of government, the chancellor.
Arestovich acknowledged that the fate of the strategically important port city of Mariupol and the civilian population in eastern Ukraine “depends on the German weapons we can get”, but which are not promised to Ukraine.
Time is of the essence, because “every minute a tanker does not mean” means that “our children are dying, being raped, being killed,” said an adviser to the Ukrainian presidential office.
Steinmeier said on Tuesday that he had offered to visit Ukraine with other European Union (EU) leaders, but Kiev said his visit was “undesirable”. Steinmeier is a former German foreign minister, and criticism of his years of tolerant policies against Moscow has been growing.
In early April, he acknowledged for the first time his policy mistakes in relations with Moscow. “My confidence [gāzesvadam] Nord Stream 2 was a clear mistake. We stuck to the bridges that Russia no longer believed in and that our partners warned us about, “Steinmeier said.
In Germany, pressure is rising on Sholc to increase support for Ukraine, which has been fighting the Russian invasion for almost seven weeks.
Although Germany has increased defense spending and sanctioned Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Berlin has refrained from sending offensive weapons to Ukraine, and Scholz, unlike other European leaders, has denied the possibility of going to Kiev.
So far, Germany has sent Ukraine anti-tank weapons, anti-tank weapons, missile launchers and ground-to-air missiles.
The government coalition led by the Social Democrat Scholz is also growing, as the Greens, for example, are calling for more weapons to be sent to Ukraine.
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