KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after he was rebuked by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The conflict is approaching a pivotal new phase, with the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump taking office next month and potentially determining the trajectory of the war after the president-elect’s pledge to end the fighting.
Ukraine is sensitive to whether cracks might be appearing in the unity of its Western allies to keep helping it against Russia, as Putin banks on outlasting the West’s commitment to Ukraine.
With the war soon to enter its fourth year, Zelenskyy said he disagreed with Scholz’s call with Putin. Zelenskyy said it could prompt phone calls with other leaders, possibly reducing Putin’s international isolation and legitimizing his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.