German President Arrives in Kiev for Surprise Visit

By Staff, Agencies

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Kiev on Tuesday, his spokesperson told AFP, confirming his surprise visit to Ukraine.

The trip is his first to the country since Russia waged a military operation in Ukraine in February, and came five months after Steinmeier, then under heavy fire for his years-long detente policy with Moscow, was snubbed by Kiev.

The German president also had to abort a trip at the last-minute last week over security reasons, sparking criticisms from Germany's opposition.

"I am looking forward to my meeting with [Ukrainian] President Vladimir Zelensky in Kiev," he said, according to a confirmation sent by his spokeswoman.

Before meeting Zelensky, Steinmeier will visit a town in the north of the country, near the Belarusian border, which Ukraine alleges has been liberated from Russian troops but left with its infrastructure destroyed. Germany will provide aid to the municipality for its energy infrastructure, he said.

"My message to Ukrainians: you can count on Germany," Steinmeier said.

In the months after the Russian military operation in Ukraine, Steinmeier, a former foreign minister, was heavily criticized over his years-long rapprochement stance towards Moscow, which he has since admitted was a mistake. His offer to visit Kiev in April was snubbed, sparking irritation between the two countries.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz then said Kiev’s refusal to receive Steinmeier was a barrier to his own visit to Ukraine – which eventually only took place in June along with Italy's Mario Draghi and France's Emmanuel Macron.