Melnyk sure Berlin will continue to support Kyiv after Bundestag election

Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Andriy Melnyk has said he is confident that Berlin will continue to support Kyiv after the elections to Germany's federal parliament, the Bundestag.

Melnyk told this to Suspilne, Ukrinform reports.

That's how he reacted to exit polls showing that Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) holds a slim lead in the Bundestag election, followed by the conservative CDU/CSU bloc led by Armin Laschet.

"I am glad that in recent months, our President [Volodymyr Zelensky] has established close contact directly with many of the current leaders. That is, not only with Ms. [Angela] Merkel, but also with Armin Laschet. To a large extent, this also applies to Olaf Scholz because to this day he has been and remains Vice Chancellor, i.e. a person and a member of the governing coalition who, in fact, not only formed this current course by Berlin but is part of this course," Melnyk said.

He added that all of the mentioned politicians were present at the latest summits held in Berlin during the visit of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

"It was during this very long and thorough conversation that we heard firsthand Berlin's readiness to continue its activity in the Normandy format after the election. What will it be like? It is difficult to say how the focus and approaches will change. After all, it is clear that it will not be the same as today, when Ms. Merkel called [Russian President Vladimir] Putin every two or three weeks and maintained direct contact with our president and the French side," Melnyk said.

op