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Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
Photo: Adam Schreck / dpa
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyj, Ukraine has not received an "official" request from Berlin for a visit from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Neither he nor his office was officially asked by Steinmeier or the Office of the Federal President, Zelenskyj said in Kiev on Wednesday.
"We are a free country," he added.
»We can afford to surround ourselves with those who really support us, to surround ourselves with real friends.«
His chief of staff Serhiy Leshchenko had previously emphasized in an interview with CNN that Zelenskyy had not canceled any visits by the Federal President.
On the other hand, the incident is presented differently by persons entrusted with the process.
After that, the suggestion that Steinmeier should travel to Kyiv with four Eastern European presidents on Wednesday came from Polish President Andrej Duda.
It should be a big signal of support, of help for the country threatened by Russia.
Steinmeier agrees to the hearing after a short period of reflection.
The strictest confidentiality is agreed on the travel plans.
Steinmeier tried unsuccessfully to call Selenskyj on Monday.
On Monday evening, the Ukrainian Presidential Office then informed Warsaw that they had reservations about Steinmeier's participation - about which the German side was then informed.
Even the hint that this could trigger a political scandal was unsuccessful.
On Tuesday afternoon, when Steinmeier visited Duda in Warsaw, the Ukrainian presidential office informed the German ambassador in Kyiv in writing that they were against Steinmeier's participation in the visit of the Eastern European quartet for logistical reasons.
A reconstruction of the planning and the following cancellation can be found here: How Steinmeier's trip to Kiev suddenly failed
The "Bild" newspaper, citing Ukrainian diplomats, made the secret trip public - and reported on a veto by the government in Kyiv.
Steinmeier was not welcome, specifically because of his earlier policy towards Russia.
As Foreign Minister, Steinmeier had, among other things, close contacts with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and had worked for years to build the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
In a SPIEGEL interview a week ago, he admitted mistakes in his policy towards Putin's Russia.
Steinmeier said he was "hoping that Putin would still be rational."
Afterwards, the Federal President publicly expressed his disappointment in Warsaw: He would have liked to travel to Kyiv together with the Presidents of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia "to send a strong signal of Europe's solidarity with Ukraine.
I would have liked to have taken this opportunity.
I have to acknowledge that this is obviously not desired.«
The refusal – however it was pronounced and by whom – had caused outrage in Germany.
You can find a comment on the cancellation of the trip through Ukraine here: An unnecessary affront
Olaf Scholz, who was invited to Kyiv by the Ukrainian ambassador on the same day, described it as "irritating" that Ukraine had rejected Steinmeier's planned visit.
As a result, he will not be traveling to Ukraine for the time being.
oka/AFP/Reuters