Enlarge image
Ukrainian President Selenskyj: »Germany came later when it came to arms deliveries.
That's a fact"
Photo: Natacha Pisarenko / dpa
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Olaf Scholz to take a clearer stance on the Ukraine war.
“We need Chancellor Scholz to assure us that Germany will support Ukraine.
He and his government have to make a decision," he told the ZDF "heute-journal".
It should not be attempted to create a balancing act between Ukraine and relations with Russia.
»Germany came a little later than some of our neighboring countries in terms of arms deliveries.
That's a fact," criticized the head of state.
The first to take action were the USA, Great Britain, the Baltic States and other eastern EU countries.
Initially, Germany and France only supported Ukraine politically and rhetorically.
"But at the beginning of the war we didn't need politics, we needed help."
In the meantime they had come "thank God" to help.
Zelenskyj did not want to make any statement about the extent of the arms aid from Germany.
The German Chancellor must take a position and not look for where it hurts the least in relations with Russia and Ukraine, Zelenskyy said.
This approach is wrong.
Recently, the Ukrainian side has often denounced the fact that Germany is too hesitant to deliver arms that it has already promised to Ukraine.
Hopes are now pinned on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's upcoming visit to Kyiv.
The Ukrainian government is hoping for concrete promises for an immediate delivery of German tanks.
In the interview, Zelenskyj painted a dramatic picture of the situation: "The Russian government doesn't care how many people die.
They don't care how long the war lasts.
Because they earn it through energy exports.
We care that people lose their lives.«
sol/dpa