Ukrainian officers and analysts blamed the delay on Germany’s prior ties to Russia, its perceived dithering originally of the struggle and foot-dragging on sending heavy weaponry. Zelensky’s go to got here with its personal street bumps and was nearly upended due to media leaks that have been deemed to current a safety danger.
However as the 2 leaders appeared collectively at a information convention on Sunday, they placed on a present of unity. Germany has additionally offered Ukraine with extra navy support than every other nation within the European Union, saying a brand new bundle for Ukraine totaling $2.95 billion a day forward of the go to, which nearly doubles Berlin’s whole dedication since Russia invaded in February 2022.
“I’ve stated it many occasions, and I repeat it right here right now: We’ll help you for so long as it’s essential,” Scholz stated. The weapons deliveries he outlined, which can embrace new IRIS-T air protection techniques and Leopard 2 tanks, come as Ukraine prepares a counteroffensive in opposition to Russia.
“That is about preventing again an assault on Ukrainian territory,” he stated.
But the chancellor sidestepped a query over whether or not Germany helps a street map for Ukrainian membership within the NATO alliance, saying the present focus is on the counteroffensive. He rejected the characterization of Ukrainian-German relations as rocky, describing them as “excellent.”
Zelensky stated the brand new protection bundle is “a really sturdy pillar of help” and stated that though Germany is already Ukraine’s second-biggest supporter, “we’re going to work on making Germany supporter primary.”
“We would like this struggle to complete, however this struggle should finish with a simply and honest peace,” Zelensky stated. “We are able to acquire a victory over the aggressor.”
The Ukrainian chief arrived from Italy, the place he met with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. He obtained navy honors as he was greeted in Berlin. “Already in Berlin. Weapons. Highly effective bundle. Air protection. Reconstruction. EU. NATO. Safety,” he tweeted within the early hours of Sunday.
He additionally met on Sunday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a politician who has been criticized for his earlier cozy relations with Moscow. The session represented a thaw after Zelensky rejected a go to by Steinmeier to Kyiv final yr, setting off a diplomatic spat.
On Sunday afternoon, Zelensky was anticipated to journey to the western German metropolis of Aachen to obtain the Worldwide Charlemagne Prize for providers to Europe.
Zelensky’s go to to Germany nearly didn’t occur after particulars of his itinerary, together with the lodge he had booked, have been printed by a Berlin newspaper, in response to a Ukrainian official who spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate inner authorities deliberations.
“Individuals have been livid,” the official stated, including that it was the primary time such express particulars had been made public to this point upfront of a Zelensky go to overseas.
Berlin police have launched an investigation into how the data reached the media. Chief Barbara Slowik described it as “insufferable” that “a single worker is damaging the status of the Berlin police in such a shameful approach nationally and internationally.”
The Ukrainian official speculated as as to if extra nefarious causes have been at play. “Was the intention to destroy this relationship?” the official stated of the affect on German-Ukrainian ties. “It’s very fragile.”
The strain within the relationship — rooted within the two international locations’ differing views of the Russian menace — lengthy predates the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine final yr. In Ukraine, Germany is repeatedly blamed for laying Russia’s path for the struggle by ignoring Kyiv’s warnings that development of the Nord Stream pipelines threatened its safety by permitting Russian oil deliveries to Europe to bypass its territory. Former chancellor Angela Merkel can be criticized for pushing the federal government to just accept the maligned Minsk agreements following Russia’s 2014 invasion and unlawful annexation of Crimea.
After Russia’s invasion final yr, Scholz introduced a “zeitenwende,” or turning level, within the nation’s protection technique and pledged to ship weapons, a transfer that had beforehand been a pink line for Berlin. Nonetheless, Kyiv has repeatedly criticized Berlin for being gradual to behave in terms of deliveries of heavy weapons and tanks.
Scholz acknowledged on Sunday that Germany has been “cautious” with deliveries however stated that will have helped the nation’s help to be extra steady. The problem stays contentious in Germany.
Based on a YouGov survey carried out for the primary anniversary of the invasion, 40 p.c of Germans felt that Berlin had already shipped an excessive amount of weaponry to Ukraine. Solely 22 p.c thought the navy support was too little, and 23 p.c thought it was the correct quantity.
For Ukraine, pragmatic concerns affect journeys reminiscent of Zelensky’s to Germany, stated Susan Stewart, an analyst on the German Institute for Worldwide and Safety Affairs. The nation is eager to shore up continued provides of tanks from Europe, and Zelensky can be lobbying for fighter jets. Germany has to this point dominated out sending jets.
Ukraine’s efficiency on the battlefield has added impetus to the political debate over sending arms, she stated.
“Germany continues to be an especially vital associate for Ukraine and one which Ukraine appreciates,” Stewart stated. “It’s simply that due to this form of an preliminary hesitance and due to the earlier positions towards Russia, there’s this type of lingering lack of full belief or a way that others are maybe much more on Ukraine’s aspect.”