The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that he had not received a request from the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to visit Ukraine.
"My office nor I as the President haven't officially received a request from the President of Germany and the Office of the President of Germany regarding a visit to Ukraine. We have a free country, and we are ready to be a transit state if the issues at hand are economical and not political, "he said.
The President also stated that Ukraine's heroic resistance gives it the right to choose friends.
"50 days of the war, 50 days of Ukrainian resistance, strength and unity of our nation. Given that every day we lose people, I believe we can afford to be surrounded by those who truly support us, by real friends. I believe that one can't have too many true friends. We are satisfied with this number, "Zelensky stressed.
In his turn, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that he would not visit Kyiv in the near future due to Ukraine's reluctance to receive President Steinmeier. This was reported by The New York Times.
Olag Scholz called the snubbing of his country's President "somewhat irritating, to put it politely" and told the German radio broadcaster RBB that he wasn't planning to visit Kyiv himself in the short term.
He also rejected accusations that Germany was in no hurry to provide military assistance to Ukraine. The Chancellor stressed that his government was the first to take such a step since Germany avoided providing weapons to other countries after World War II.
"We deliver, we have delivered, and we will deliver," added Olaf Scholz.
However, according to the New York Times, German officials privately acknowledge that the government avoids deciding to provide heavy weapons. Pressure is mounting even within Scholz's government to change that position.
Igor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said earlier that every visit of foreign leaders to Ukraine today is "not just a symbol of support, it must culminate in a concrete result. And in the case of the German leadership, it could be either an oil embargo or new supplies of weapons, particularly heavy weapons."
According to German media, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier wanted to visit Kyiv, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to see him. One of the reasons is the close ties of the German politician with Russia in the past.