The president of Germany has arrived in Kiev for the first time since Russia launched its military operation in February. The trip comes after Ukrainian officials disinvited him from visiting in April.
“My message to the Ukrainians is that we are not only standing by your side. We will continue to support Ukraine, economically, politically and also militarily,” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after arriving on Tuesday.
“It was important to me, especially now in this phase of air attacks with drones, cruise missiles and rockets, to send a message of solidarity to the Ukrainians,” he added.
Steinmeier planned to visit Kiev last Thursday, but the trip was canceled on short notice due to the intensification of Russian attacks on the capital.
After the conflict began in February, many European leaders made trips to Ukraine, meeting with President Vladimir Zelensky and touring the cities devastated by the fighting.
Steinmeier’s potential visit, however, caused controversy in April when the Ukrainian authorities disinvited him, reportedly citing his “close ties to Russia.”
Steinmeier said at the time that he had planned to travel to Kiev, but “apparently wasn’t wanted” there.
The visit comes after Ukraine renewed its requests for Western air defense systems in the wake of Russian strikes on Kiev and other major cities. Speaking to German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Saturday, Prime Minister Denis Shmigal said Ukraine urgently needs mobile power generators and warming stations to get through the winter. He also urged the EU to streamline financial aid.
Russia has repeatedly struck Ukrainian thermal power plants and power lines this month. President Vladimir Putin stated that the strikes were ramped up in retaliation against “terrorist attacks” on Russian soil, including the truck bombing that damaged the strategic bridge which connects the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland.