German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. File photoMOSCOW, May 3 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told ZTF that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's refusal to receive his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Kyiv prevents the head of the German government from visiting the former Soviet republic. The tabloid Bild reported, citing Ukrainian government circles, that Zelenskiy refused to host Steinmeier in Kyiv «because of his close ties to Russia» in recent years. According to the publication, the latter planned to visit Ukraine on April 13. Steinmeier explained that he was ready to go to Kyiv together with colleagues from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, but they considered his presence undesirable there. about the possibility of visiting Ukraine. The chancellor called the refusal to receive Steinmeier «a rather significant event.» the president cannot come,» Scholz stressed. Russia has been conducting a special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine since February 24. As Vladimir Putin emphasized, its goal is «to protect people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» The agency called the liberation of Donbass the main goal of the operation.
