The visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Germany was a failure for Kiev because it did not achieve its goal, writes the German news outlet BILD, quoted by focus. de.
Zelesnyky's trip was a disappointment because despite intensive discussions with Olaf Scholz and other European leaders, the key demands of the Ukrainian president during his trip to Europe remained unfulfilled.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has high hopes for his “victory plan”, which he presented to European leaders during his trip to several countries, including Italy and Germany. But those hopes are now likely to be dashed. Zelensky's goal during his trip was to gain more support in the fight against Russia, but there has been little progress on this issue in Berlin.
Chancellor Scholz rejected two of Zelensky's main demands. The first problem is the request to allow the use of Western long-range weapons against strategic targets in Russia. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly stressed that the goal should be to weaken the Russian military so that it can never again attack another country.
Secondly, Zelensky called for Ukraine to be quickly accepted into NATO, combined with security guarantees. According to BILD sources, however, Scholz did not give a clear answer to these requests. Although the chancellor has not directly said "no", there is no positive confirmation.
German colonel Ralf Thiele and a former member of the NATO commander-in-chief's team said it was a bitter blow to Zelensky. "After the West encouraged Zelensky in recent years with euphoric statements and narratives of military support and integration in NATO and the EU, now a phase of disillusionment is coming," said the military expert. According to him, Zelensky's trip to Europe was useful for one reason – it has helped assess more realistically Kiev's remaining military and political options for action.
Zelensky's visit to the USA a few days ago was also disappointing. He asked US President Joe Biden for permission to attack Russian military bases with Western missiles, as well as guarantees that Ukraine would soon be accepted into NATO. You didn't get a positive answer to any of these questions.