Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to adopt a clearer position on the war between Ukraine and Russia.
"We need Chancellor Scholz to reassure us that Germany supports Ukraine," Zelenskiy said an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on June 13. "He and his government must decide: there can't be a trade-off between Ukraine and relations with Russia."
Zelenskiy's comments came amid speculation that Scholz could make his first trip to Kyiv since the start of the war.
Online magazine Focus, citing Italian newspaper La Stampa, reported that Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi would travel to the Ukrainian capital on June 16.
The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported on June 12 the trio planned to go before a Group of Seven summit at the end of June.
Scholz declined to comment on those reports on June 13, saying that he wouldn't go beyond what his spokesperson told reporters earlier in the day. The spokesperson had declined to discuss the reports.
Several other European leaders, Germany's opposition leader, and members of Scholz's cabinet have visited Ukraine to express solidarity with the country in the face of Russia's military assault, raising the pressure on him to do likewise.
Scholz has rebuffed those calls, saying he would only go once he had something concrete to announce.
While Germany has contributed considerable financial and military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on February 24, Scholz's government has been criticized both at home and abroad for being slower to send aid than the United States and some smaller European countries.
Scholz pushed back against such criticism, saying that the advanced howitzers Germany is providing are some of the world's most advanced mobile artillery systems. Their delivery has taken time in part because Germany has had to train Ukrainian crews to use them.
"I think it would be good if those who express their views on this or that issue spent a moment thinking about it first," he said.
Zelenskiy made clear in the interview that he believes Germany's military support could have come faster.
"To be honest, Germany joined a little later than some of our neighboring countries, as far as the arms deliveries were concerned. That's a fact," he said.
He added that it was "important that Chancellor Scholz comes here during wartime" and said he expected Scholz to show "personal support" for Ukraine's membership in the European Union and on the issue of sanctions against Russia.