Volodymyr Zelensky urges Olaf Scholz to travel to Kyiv on May 9 to “send a strong political signal”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on Friday at an online forum organized by the British think tank Chatham House, before speaking by videoconference to the Icelandic Parliament. During the online forum, the Ukrainian leader repeated his desire to see Olaf Scholz visit him in kyiv, having already done so yesterday. This time, Volodymyr Zelensky urged the German leader to visit Ukraine on May 9 to “send a strong political signal”.
May 9 is an important date for Russia, which will celebrate that day the victory against Nazi Germany at the end of the Second World War. It is believed that the Kremlin intends to celebrate this very special day with great fanfare, preferably with fresh military victories on the ground in Ukraine to highlight. Volodymyr Zelensky would therefore like to welcome the German Chancellor to the Ukrainian capital on 9 May. “The invitation is there, it has been for some time now”specified the Ukrainian president.
On Thursday, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke on the phone with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President, to “sooth irritation”. kyiv had refused, in mid-April, to see Mr. Steinmeier go to Ukraine, considering him to be one of “those who understand Putin”. This discussion made it possible to smooth out the situation between Olaf Scholz and his Ukrainian counterpart. Thursday evening, despite Volodymyr Zelensky’s first invitation, the German Chancellor announced at a press conference that Annalena Baerbock, the German Foreign Minister, should be the one who “will soon visit kyiv”.
In his address to the online forum organized by Chatham House, Mr. Zelensky also wished to send a message against certain countries, without specifying which ones, accused of not being sufficiently involved in the aid provided to the Ukraine: “They want to stay in that gray area and stay in the shadows, walk between the raindrops. It is however not a simple downpour, it is raining with floods. Everyone is wet. » Particularly targeted since the start of the conflict, Germany has reacted in recent days. After announcing last week that it would provide Cheetah-type tanks to Ukraine, the German Defense Ministry decided on Friday to send seven Panzerhaubitze 2000 armored howitzers to kyiv.