Furious Germans accuse Ukraine of a diplomatic snub by REFUSING to host their President days after Boris visit

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Furious Germans accuse Ukraine of a diplomatic snub by REFUSING to host their President days after Boris visit

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Furious Germans accuse Ukraine of a diplomatic snub by REFUSING to host their President days after Boris visit
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is Germany's largely ceremonial head of state
He hoped to travel to Kyiv Wednesday with his Polish and Baltic counterparts
But on Tuesday he said that his presence 'apparently ... wasn't wanted in Kyiv'
The snub came after Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyi Satruday
Pictures later showed Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Estonian President Alar Karis, Poland's Andrzej Duda and Egils Levits of Latvia in Kyiv today
By CHRIS JEWERS FOR MAILONLINE and AP

PUBLISHED: 20:16 BST, 13 April 2022 |

Furious Germans have accused Ukraine of a diplomatic snub by refusing to host their President, days after Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Kyiv.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's largely ceremonial head of state, had hoped to travel to Ukraine on Wednesday with his Polish and Baltic counterparts.

But he said Tuesday that his presence 'apparently ... wasn't wanted in Kyiv.'

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday criticised the snub of his country's president and defended Berlin's record on delivering weapons to Kyiv amid tensions that have flared at a delicate moment in German policymaking on the war.

Meanwhile, the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia travelled by train to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with pictures showing the five men meeting together in the capital on Wednesday evening.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (pictured on Tuesday), Germany's largely ceremonial head of state, had hoped to travel to Ukraine on Wednesday with his Polish and Baltic counterparts. But he said Tuesday that his presence 'apparently ... wasn't wanted in Kyiv'

The German newspaper Bild quoted an unidentified Ukrainian diplomat as saying that Steinmeier was not welcome at the moment, pointing to his close relations with Russia in the past.

Ukraine's ambassador to Germany later said the government would be glad to welcome Scholz - who, unlike Steinmeier, sets government policy. But the snub to Steinmeier may make that more difficult.

'The president would have liked to go to Ukraine,' Scholz told rbb24 Inforadio, noting that Steinmeier is Germany's head of state and was recently reelected with broad support. 'So it would have been good to receive him.'

'It is, in any case, somewhat irritating, to put it politely,' Scholz added, noting that Steinmeier has strongly criticised Russia's war and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine.The flap comes amid a discussion within Scholz's governing coalition about whether Germany should authorise sending heavy weapons such as tanks to Ukraine as that nation prepares to face a stepped-up Russian offensive in the east.

Germany broke with tradition after Russia's invasion to supply arms to Ukraine but has faced criticism from Kyiv for perceived hesitancy and slowness in providing material.

A Ukrainian presidential adviser, Oleksiy Arestovych, told Germany's ARD television that he didn't know the reasons for the decision to reject a Steinmeier visit but also signaled that Kyiv would like to see Scholz so that 'practical decisions' could be made on matters such as weapons.

Arestovych said the fate of the strategic port city of Mariupol and the civilian population of eastern Ukraine 'depends on the German weapons we could get', but that have not been promised.

Time is of the essence because 'every minute that a tank doesn't arrive... it is our children who are dying, being raped, being killed', Arestovych said.

A senior lawmaker with one of Germany's three governing parties, Wolfgang Kubicki, said he didn't think Zelensky was 'well advised' to reject a visit by Steinmeier.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday criticised the snub of his country's president and defended Berlin's record on delivering weapons to Kyiv amid tensions that have flared at a delicate moment in German policymaking on the war

'I cannot imagine that the chancellor ... will travel to a country that designates our country's head of state as an unwanted person,' he told the German news agency dpa. Another governing party lawmaker, Juergen Trittin, told the RND newspaper group that the move was 'a big propaganda success for Vladimir Putin.'

Steinmeier, who became president in 2017, served twice as ex-Chancellor Angela Merkel's foreign minister and before that as ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's chief of staff. During that time, Germany pursued a dialogue with Putin and cultivated close energy ties.

Last week, Steinmeier admitted mistakes in Germany's policies toward Russia, saying that 'we failed on many points.'

Asked when would go to Ukraine, Scholz said only that he had visited Kyiv shortly before the war and regularly speaks to Zelensky.

Scholz said 'the weapons we are delivering have made a very substantial contribution' to Ukraine foiling Russia's plans for a quick conquest. Prime Minister Boris Johnson with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, during the British prime minister's visit to Kyiv on Saturday April 9, 2022

'He was tight-lipped on the possibilities of a bigger German contribution, but insisted that 'we are delivering, we have delivered and we will deliver.'

On Monday, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green party said 'Ukraine needs further military material, above all heavy weapons, and now is not the time for excuses - now is the time for creativity and pragmatism.'

The message appeared directed at more hesitant German politicians, particularly among Scholz's Social Democrats.

Scholz said 'we are delivering the weapons that all the others are also delivering.' He also said Germany won't make unilateral decisions and stressed the need to prevent NATO countries from becoming a party to the war.

Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, also has faced criticism for opposing a quick halt to deliveries of natural gas from Russia, which accounts for about 40 percent of its gas supplies.

A picture later showed the presidents of the four NATO countries on Russia's doorstep posing with Zelensky in Kyiv.

The group planned to deliver 'a strong message of political support and military assistance,' Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said.

Nauseda, Estonian President Alar Karis, Poland's Andrzej Duda and Egils Levits of Latvia also planned to discuss investigations into alleged Russian war crimes, including the massacre of civilians.

Nauseda said the leaders had visited Borodyanka, one of the towns near Kyiv where evidence of atrocities has been found.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a joint news briefing with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Latvian President Egils Levits and Estonian President Alar Karis, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, April 13

'This is where the dark side of humankind has shown its face,' he wrote on Twitter. 'Brutal war crimes committed by the Russian army will not stay unpunished.'

Polish President Andrzej Duda called the war in Ukraine 'terrorism', saying those who committed crimes must be brought to justice and that that must extend to those who gave the orders.

Duda told a news conference: 'This is not war, this is terrorism.' He had earlier visited the town of Bucha just outside Kyiv, where the discovery of slain civilians after Russian forces withdrew has provoked a global outcry.

Russia denies targeting civilians and has dismissed allegations its troops committed war crimes as fake news.

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic on Wednesday reopened its embassy in the Ukrainian capital that was closed after Russian troops invaded the country.

The Foreign Ministry said the diplomats have returned to Kyiv and the Czech flag is flying again at the embassy.

It said Wednesday's move is 'one of the steps to show our support for Ukraine.'
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