Klingbeil and Mützenich had surprisingly arrived in Kiev on Monday morning. Talks with Ukrainian government officials, Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko, the Speaker of Parliament and other politicians were marked by “deep gratitude,” said the SPD leader, referring to German support for Ukraine since the start of the Russian war of aggression. “And today we made a clear commitment: This path will continue without restriction.”
At the meeting with Zelenskyy, the supply of weapons and the Leopard 2 tank as well as bottlenecks in the supply of ammunition were discussed. In addition, questions of energy security and the situation of Ukrainian refugees in Germany were discussed.
In the discussion about the extent of military support for Ukraine, Mützenich in particular repeatedly expressed reservations and emphasized the need for diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict. For this he was sharply criticized in Ukraine.
Klingbeil said on ZDF that the SPD is working on the criticism of its earlier Russia policy. “We have dealt with mistakes that have happened to us in recent years, and we then dare to look ahead on the basis of this error analysis.”
The SPD leader travels from Kiev to Warsaw, where he has invited the leaders of the social democratic parties from Eastern Europe to a meeting on Tuesday. According to his own statement, Klingbeil wants to outline his “ideas of a new social-democratic foreign and security policy” at the meeting.
