German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits Ukraine
It comes just weeks after he faced criticism from Volodymyr Zelensky for speaking to Vladimir Putin by phone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is visiting Ukraine for the first time in more than two years.
His arrival comes just weeks after he was criticised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Their call came at a time of widespread speculation about what the new administration of US President-elect Donald Trump will mean for Ukraine.
In a major shift, Mr Zelensky signalled that an an offer of Nato membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war” in Ukraine.
Mr Scholz said that, in his meeting with Mr Zelensky, he will announce further military supplies this month totalling 650 million euro (£539 million).
“Ukraine can rely on Germany – we say what we do and we do what we say,” he said.
“I would like to make clear here on the ground that Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe.”
Mr Scholz’s visit comes ahead of an early German election expected in February. As the campaign gets under way, the Chancellor has pointed to Germany’s status as Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier while also highlighting his “prudence” in working to prevent the war escalating and refusing to deliver Taurus long-range cruise missiles.
The German leader was criticised by Mr Zelenskyy in November for speaking to Mr Putin in what appeared to be the first conversation with the sitting leader of a major Western power in nearly two years.
In that call, Mr Scholz urged Mr Putin to be open to negotiations with Ukraine but the Russian leader said any peace deal should acknowledge Russia’s territorial gains and security demands, including that Kyiv renounce joining Nato.
Mr Zelensky suggested the call to Mr Putin risked opening “a Pandora’s box” and would only serve to make Russia less isolated. He travelled to Berlin in October to meet Mr Scholz to drum up support for his “victory plan” to end the war in Ukraine on a tour of European capitals.
The plan included a suggestion that Ukraine receive a formal invitation to join Nato and a request that Kyiv be given permission to use long-range Western missiles to strike at military targets inside Russia.
Western nations granted permission for Kyiv to carry out long-range strikes with their weapons in November.
Following the decision, Mr Putin said Russia launched a strike on Ukraine with an unstoppable intermediate range ballistic missile dubbed the Oreshnik. It marked the first time that such a missile was used in the war or in any other conflict.
