Olaf Scholz at Zelenskyj: what they have in common, what they argue about

At first glance you can’t see the war in the center of Kiev. The buildings appear undamaged. The first shops have put up Christmas decorations. But the war is there, in many places, in different forms, in all its cruelty. People carry it with them in their worries.

A Ukrainian journalist, an employee of a news agency, whose husband has been fighting on the front since the summer of 2023, is sitting in the press conference by Volodymyr Zelenskyj and Olaf Scholz. Whenever he has internet, he sends her a text message, she says. Then the young woman stops. If she continues to talk about him, she says, she will start to cry. But that doesn’t belong here in front of the President and the Chancellor.

Olaf Scholz is traveling for a day in the Ukrainian capital. It is his second visit since the Russian attack in February 2022. It is primarily a political trip. Scholz often calls Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine “merciless” and “criminal.” The question is whether there is any way to end this conflict in the foreseeable future. It doesn’t look like that yet.

Scholz is not going to the front. But even in Kyiv you can experience what that actually means, merciless. What this war is doing; what he practically spits out in terms of death and misery, every single one of now more than 1000 days.

The war is in a military hospital, where Scholz and Zelensky visit soldiers. They are young men who returned from the front seriously wounded. Their limbs were torn away and with them a piece of their future. Chancellor and President go from room to room, five in total. Olaf Scholz will later say that he expressed his “deep appreciation to the soldiers for their courage and bravery.” That was important to him, said the Chancellor. And he “won’t forget” what he saw.

The war is on Maidan, Independence Square, where Scholz sees the pictures of killed soldiers surrounded by thousands of flags in the colors of Ukraine. The Chancellor stands in front of this blue-yellow sea of ​​sadness, Zelenskyj next to him, both of them have put down a candle. The faces as if petrified.

But the war also flies with the weapons that Scholz and Zelenskyj inspect in a secret location in Kiev. Weapons with which Ukraine defends itself. For example, a drone developed in Germany that rushes into its targets with armor-piercing ammunition and destroys them. It is also called a kamikaze drone. 4,000 such devices will be delivered to Ukraine in the next few months. Unit price around 30,000 euros. They find their target, even if the enemy disrupts radio communications. An original recording of a Russian armored personnel carrier being hit is shown on a screen at the manufacturing company. Shortly before the impact you can see the soldiers sitting on the ground.

The Ukrainian President took the whole day to accompany his guest from Germany. It is a special guest, a good friend, but also a tough bone. Zelenskyj has counted, the two have now met in person 17 times, spoken on the phone or online more than 30 times. Scholz and Zelenskyj have a close relationship, which does not mean that it is free of conflict. On the contrary.

Scholz never tires of pointing out German aid, a total of 28 billion euros in military support alone. He has announced equipment worth 650 million euros by the end of the year – a small deception because the money has long since been approved. But he also becomes taciturn and stubborn when it comes to the weapons he doesn’t want to supply. And about political support for Ukraine’s accession to NATO, which he does not want to accelerate.

Zelenskyj, on the other hand, is grateful for the great help that Germany has provided, both militarily and financially. He says German defensive weapons saved many lives in Ukraine. But he doesn’t talk around when it comes to differences, like the Taurus cruise missile, which he would like to have but doesn’t get. Or about telephone diplomacy with Vladimir Putin, which Scholz believes is necessary but Zelenskyj believes is wrong. Only political and economic isolation weakens the Russian president, says Zelensky. If you talk to Putin on the phone once, other phone calls, other callers follow, and Russia benefits from such a wave of recognition. “Nothing can come of this for Ukraine.”

What’s next? How will the new US President Donald Trump try to keep his promise to end the war as quickly as possible? Olaf Scholz has spoken to Trump on the phone once since his election. He can already see, says the Chancellor cautiously, “that we can rely on developing a common policy.” Then he adds even more cautiously: “At least I hope so.” Scholz promised several times that he would not allow a decision about the future of Ukraine to be made outside of Ukraine.

Volodymir Zelenskyj recently made a suggestion that can be seen as a concession. He no longer insists on joining NATO for a ceasefire, but only on the West guaranteeing the protection of the areas controlled by Ukraine. The rest is then a matter of negotiation. When asked what concessions he expects from Russia, Zelensky briefly loses his temper. “The best thing would be for Russia to go to hell.”

Of course, the young journalist also hopes for an end to the war. But she is also afraid of it. She says there is practically no Ukrainian family that has not been affected. This is a collective trauma whose impact cannot yet be foreseen. When the war is over, she says, “who will help us with it?”