German chancellor Olaf Scholz has visited Kyiv for the first time in over two years, ahead of snap elections which he looks set to lose.
Scholz announced further military support for Ukraine, following weeks of criticism over his refusal to send Taurus cruise missiles—fearing this could lead to a direct conflict with Russia—and his recent call with Vladimir Putin.
Roderich Kiesewetter, from the centre-right CDU, in comments to Germany’s Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper described the trip as “both a lie and an election campaign on the back of Ukraine.”
Indeed, CDU leader Friedrich Merz—who is likely to unseat Scholz in February—says that Germany should send Taurus missiles to Ukraine. The Kyiv Independent also notes more generally that “he seems ready to ditch Scholz’s cautious Ukraine strategy.”
The chancellor’s team did not respond to Politico’s suggestion that his sudden visit came in response to Merz’s invitation from Volodymyr Zelensky.
It appears that for Merz, strong backing of Ukraine in its war against Russia forms part of his desire for the world to “once again look at Germany with admiration and not with bewilderment”—that is, what has been described as the CDU’s own version of ‘MAGA.’
Scholz’s rhetoric in Kyiv today does appear to echo this approach—particularly his claim that “Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe.”
Just a matter of weeks after he urged Putin to prepare for negotiations “with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace,” Scholz also told Moscow—from Kyiv—that “we will not let up in our support for Ukraine.
We stand by the side of the Ukrainian people—for as long as necessary.
Zelensky responded by thanking Germany for its “important support of our defence capabilities.”
