German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, amid growing fears of an imminent Russian invasion. Meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Scholz is expected to offer Ukraine more economic support, but no weapons. The visit comes as staff from the Organisation for Security and Economic Cooperation pulled out of the eastern rebel-held city of Donetsk. They had been monitoring the conflict there. Western intelligence sources say Russia now has more than 100,000 troops on Ukraine's borders.
Germany's new chancellor is coming to Kyiv at a time of unprecedented tensions, not just between Ukraine and Russia, but also between friends, with Kyiv accusing Berlin of sitting on the fence as Ukraine prepares its bomb shelters and foreign embassies evacuate their staff.
Berlin's refusal to follow the lead taken by the US in supplying Ukraine with defensive weapons is Kyiv's number one complaint. Where other countries have provided anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles and ammunition, Germany has offered to send five thousand helmets - an announcement that provoked amusement and anger in equal measure.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany is the other major point of contention. The pipeline is complete but has yet to be commissioned - and Ukraine hopes it never will be. Ukraine says the pipeline would allow Russia to supply its gas customers in Western Europe without the need for Ukraine’s pipeline network - allowing the Kremlin to destabilize Ukraine.
Ukraine wants it canceled immediately - as a pre-emptive sanction to show Moscow that the West means business, while Berlin refuses to spell out in public what exactly it would do if Russia were to invade. Berlin calls it tactical ambiguity, Kyiv suspects Germany of trying to salvage a lucrative business project, regardless of the security implications.
With no sign for now that Germany is willing to give any ground either on weapons or on mothballing Nord Stream 2, Olaf Scholz has his work cut out to convince his Ukrainian hosts that he has their interests at heart - and that they can trust him to negotiate a way out of this crisis when he goes to Moscow.
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