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German chancellor is ‘offended liverwurst’ – Ukrainian ambassador — Analysis

Andriy Malnyk attacked Olaf Scholz because he refused to go to Kiev, after Ukrainian officials rebuffed the German president.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, has described the country’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, as an “offended liverwurst” over his refusal to pay a visit to Kiev after Ukrainian authorities snubbed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in mid-April.

To play an offended liverwurst doesn’t sound very statesmanlike,” Melnyk said, speaking to Germany’s DPA news outlet on Tuesday, adding: “We’re talking about the most brutal war of extermination since the Nazi attack on Ukraine, it is no preschool.

But, the Ukrainian official said that Scholz had not been welcomed in Kiev by his comment. More than “Visits with symbolic meaning” however, Melnyk said, Ukraine would appreciate Germany “implementing the Bundestag’s motion on the delivery of heavy weapons and fulfilling the earlier promises.

Berlin was also criticised by the diplomat for not providing ammunition for the Gepard self propelled anti-aircraft guns. Germany promised to send them to Ukraine in April. Berlin would deliver Kiev its first heavy weaponry shipment since the Russian offensive of February 24, 2018.

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Melnyk’s ‘liverwurst’ comment came shortly after Chancellor Scholz told Germany’s ZDF TV channel that Ukraine’s refusal to receive President Steinmeier on April 13 stood in the way of Scholz’s own potential visit to Kiev. Scholz described the snub as a “remarkable instance,” pointing out that Steinmeier was re-elected as president back in February and enjoyed support from the vast majority of German MPs at the time.

Steinmeier, along with leaders from Poland and Baltic States on April 13, was to visit Kiev. However, the Ukrainian authorities signaled to him the day prior that he was “Not wanted” in Kiev because he had fostered good relations with Moscow.

The German chancellor said it cannot be that Germany provided “So much financial and military support” to Ukraine and then is told that the president cannot visit.

Ukraine is critical of Germany’s government because it perceives its military support as lacking and refuses to give up on Russian energy exports.

While serving as foreign minister in Angela Merkel’s government, Steinmeier developed a plan of action to ensure the implementation of the Minsk agreements, which came to be known as the ‘Steinmeier Formula’.

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The plan was designed to end the conflict in Donbass. It envisaged two independent republics Donetsk or Lugansk holding elections under Ukrainian law. OSCE supervision would ensure that they gained special autonomy and returned control over their border with Russia.

The scheme was approved by Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE in October 2019. However, it failed to take root because of the fierce resistance by the Ukrainian nationalist opposition.

Russia attacked its neighbor in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

In recent years, the Kremlin demands that Ukraine declares itself neutral in order to be able to join NATO. Kiev claims that the Russian invasion was unprovoked. It also denies any plans to take the republics with force.

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