Berlin Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is the first German cabinet member to travel to the capital Kyiv since the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. There she was received in the afternoon by President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked her for Germany’s support.
It is of great value for the country that Germany shows solidarity with the Ukrainian people, said Zelensky, according to a video published by the presidential administration. Baerbock was accompanied by her Dutch colleague Wopke Hoekstra.
Baerbock informed Selenski that in a few days the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the modern Panzerhaubitze 2000 would begin, which Germany and the Netherlands would deliver to Ukraine. She also traveled to Kyiv to reopen the German embassy. The embassy will initially have limited operations.
Previously, Baerbock had visited Butscha and Irpin. More than 400 bodies were found in Bucha after the Russian troops withdrew – some with their hands tied behind their backs.
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In a church in Butscha, Baerbock reported on her impressions and spoke of a “place where the worst crimes imaginable happened”. It had become clear to her that “these victims could all be us,” said Baerbock, comparing Butscha as a suburb of Kyiv with her adopted home of Potsdam as a suburb of Berlin.
People were killed in everyday errands. In the church she saw pictures of a mother who had tried to flee with her two children and was killed.
The Federal Foreign Minister got an idea of the situation in the Kyiv suburb.
(Photo: Reuters)
At the same time, Baerbock promised the Ukrainian Attorney General Iryna Venediktowa, who accompanied her on the visit, that Germany and the international community wanted to support her in clarifying the matter. “We will ensure that the perpetrators are held accountable, we owe it to the victims,” said Baerbock.
Visiting the badly damaged town of Irpin, also on the outskirts of Kyiv, Baerbock showed admiration for Ukraine: “You are a very brave country and all we can do is stand by your side,” Baerbock promised Irpins Mayor Olexander Markuschyn. The mayor explained that in the future Ukraine would need a lot of deminers – also for the areas in the east of Ukraine.
Baerbock: “We will hold the perpetrators accountable”
A meeting between Baerbock and her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba is also planned for the afternoon. In addition to the question of concrete German support for Ukraine, for example in the form of arms deliveries, the question of Ukraine’s EU accession should also be at stake.
Longer planned trip
In a video speech on Monday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy once again expressed his wish to be granted EU accession candidate status by June. Previously, Kyiv had handed over a thousand-page questionnaire on EU membership to Brussels,
Baerbock’s trip to the Ukraine had been expected for a long time, but had not taken place due to various international visits and the debate about disinviting Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
>> Read the Handelsblatt comment: Scholz and Merz’s Kyiv travel plans are completely screwed up
Last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) officially announced Baerbock’s trip to Ukraine. For security reasons, however, details of the Foreign Minister’s trip had been kept secret for a long time. When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Ukrainian capital at the end of April, the city was fired at with Russian rockets.
Chancellor Scholz himself had described the Federal President’s invitation as an obstacle to his own trip to Kyiv. After Steinmeier and Ukrainian President Selenski cleared up the irritation in a phone call last week, Scholz announced that Baerbock would be traveling soon. It was initially unclear whether and when Scholz could travel to Kyiv.
Zelensky had invited the chancellor to come on May 9th, the day Russia celebrated the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) described Steinmeier’s uninvitation as an obstacle to his own trip to Kyiv.
(Photo: IMAGO/Christian Spicker)
Selenski had stated that Scholz could take a “very strong political step” and come to the Ukrainian capital that day. However, Scholz did not accept the invitation, but received French President Emmanuel Macron in Berlin.
Reopening of the embassy planned
The minister also wanted to reopen the German embassy in Kyiv, which had been closed since mid-February. The last embassy employees sent to Poland left on February 25 and continued to work partly from there and partly from Berlin.
Germany is one of the last Western countries to announce the reopening of their embassies in Kyiv. On Sunday, the United States and Canada announced the return of embassy staff. Before that, representations of the EU, France, Italy, Great Britain, Austria and other countries had already been reopened in Kyiv. Only Japan, which has not yet announced the reopening of its embassy, is missing from the group of G7 states of the leading democratic industrial nations.
In recent weeks, there have been many discussions about visits by German politicians to Ukraine. An invitation from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who wanted to travel to Kyiv together with the presidents of Poland and the three Baltic states, caused considerable resentment in Berlin.
On Sunday, Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) visited Kyiv as the second highest representative of the state after the Federal President. Before her, the CDU chairman Friedrich Merz was in Kyiv last Tuesday.
With agency material
More: Read the current developments in the Ukraine war in the live blog