German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier canceled the visit to Kyiv scheduled for October 20.
This is written by Bild.
The office of the federal president justified such a move with "security concerns". According to the publication, the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the security authorities of Germany advised the president not to go to Kyiv.
"While the federal president is canceling his visit, there are many international diplomats and guests who want to show their presence in the capital right now," an unnamed Ukrainian government official told Bild.
- Steinmeier wanted to visit Ukraine together with the presidents of Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, but at the last moment he was denied a visit to Kyiv. The reason for this was given by the fact that Steinmeier had close ties with Russia for a long time and lobbied for the construction of Nord Stream 2.
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz himself refused to go to Kyiv due to the fact that shortly before that, the Ukrainian authorities refused to receive the President of Germany Steinmeier in the capital. Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Andrii Melnyk called Sholtz an "offended sausage."
- Subsequently, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to Steinmeier by phone and invited the federal president and chancellor to Ukraine.