The outgoing Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, has withdrawn an invitation from the CDU politician to his homeland because of statements made by Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer about the Ukraine war. “With your absurd rhetoric about freezing the war, you are playing into Putin’s hands and fueling Russia’s aggression,” Melnyk wrote on Twitter early on Sunday. Therefore, his invitation to Kretschmer to visit Ukraine was “cancelled”.
“You are not wanted. Period,” added the ambassador. Melnyk was reacting to statements by the Saxon head of government in the ZDF program “Markus Lanz” on Wednesday. In it, Kretschmer said it was important “to stand up for the fact that this war has to be frozen, that we need a ceasefire, that we need negotiations to end this war”. However, he experiences this “very little in the public debate”.
In the program, Kretschmer condemned “this terrible crime” in view of the invasion of Ukraine ordered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin. “Russia must not win the war, that’s absolutely right,” emphasized the CDU politician. In this war, however, “no attempt should be made to be decided on the battlefield, because that could have such dire consequences for all of us”.
Kretschmer emphasized that diplomacy offers the opportunity to talk to each other, even “if you have completely different opinions, if you are enemies”.
Melnyk has been ambassador to Germany since the end of 2014 and has repeatedly caused a stir with sharp criticism of German politicians. He described Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) as “offended liverwurst” when the German head of government initially refused his own trip to Kyiv after President Frank-Walter Steinmeier had been invited from the Ukraine.
In early July, the Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a decree recalling Melnyk from Berlin. He is scheduled to hand over the business to his successor in October.
In view of possible new threats from Russia, NATO wants to become more active in the Arctic in the future. “NATO must increase its presence in the Arctic,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told Welt am Sonntag. The defense alliance is “already investing in maritime reconnaissance aircraft to get a clear picture of what’s going on in the far north. But we will continue to step up our efforts.”
According to Stoltenberg, Russia has recently intensified its activities in the resource-rich region. “We are seeing a significant increase in Russia’s military presence in the Arctic,” said the NATO chief. Moscow is “in the process of reopening Soviet-era bases and deploying and testing new, state-of-the-art weapons such as hypersonic missiles there.” China is also showing increasing interest in the Arctic.
From Stoltenberg’s point of view, the Arctic is of “great strategic importance” for NATO. The North Pole region is “the crucial connection between North America and Europe” and at the same time forms “the shortest distance between North America and Russia”. In addition, the Arctic is becoming increasingly important for shipping as a result of global warming and melting ice.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has promised Ukraine years of support in the war against Russia if necessary. “Unfortunately, we have to assume that Ukraine will still need new heavy weapons from its friends next summer,” said Baerbock of “Bild am Sonntag”. “Ukraine also defends our freedom, our peaceful order. And we support them financially and militarily – for as long as it is necessary. Period.” The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has now been going on for more than half a year.
Baerbock expressed the expectation that the war “could last for years”. Russian President Vladimir Putin had a “delusional idea” that he could take Ukraine within a very short time. However, this project did not work out. The foreign minister also defended Ukraine’s claim to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea annexed from Russia. “Crimea is also part of Ukraine. The world never recognized the illegal annexation of 2014.”
Baerbock warned against inciting war fatigue in Germany given the months of fighting. “Of course everyone is now feeling the consequences of Putin’s energy war on their own wallets. The social division of Europe is part of Putin’s warfare. We must prevent this. It will be a rocky road, but it is part of our political responsibility to cushion the social imbalances resulting from high energy prices.”