The Presidents of the Baltic States and Poland have met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in what the politicians have called a show of support for the country. Germany’s President, though, cancelled his plan to join them, saying it was apparent ‘he wasn’t wanted’.
Estonia’s President announced on Twitter that he was heading to Ukraine alongside his counterparts from Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.
The four travelled to Kyiv where they met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to send a strong message of political support and military assistance and back Ukraine’s fight for its sovereignty and freedom.
The presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia – all NATO countries on Europe’s Eastern flank – may well be concerned that they could face attack if Ukraine falls.
It came as Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue to push into Ukraine until “full completion.”
Meanwhile, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who had been scheduled to join said it had been made clear to him that ‘he wasn’t wanted in Kyiv’.
German newspaper Bild quoted an unnamed Ukrainian diplomat as saying, “We all know of Steinmeier’s close relations with Russia here … He is not welcome in Kyiv at the moment. We will see whether that changes.”
This is believed to be in reference to decisions made during a seemingly relaxed relationship with Moscow in his previous post as a foreign minister and perhaps a further attempt to place more pressure on Germany following accusations that the country’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz has not done enough to support Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made it clear he wants more – posting a video in English in which he lists weapons he wants different nations to provide, saying “Freedom must be armed better than tyranny.”
The Kremlin, though rejects allegations the war is unjustified. Report by Laura Makin-Isherwood
