OREANDA-NEWS. Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Andrey Kortunov, in an interview with NEWS.ru, said that despite the refusal of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to receive German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's position on the situation around Ukraine will not change radically, but this may affect to bilateral relations. He recalled that the German position on Ukrainian issues is determined by the common position of the European Union.

Such a demarche of the Ukrainian side can hardly affect anything, however, it should probably be taken into account that such a decision by Kyiv may be superimposed on the already existing irritation in Berlin regarding Ukraine's position on a number of issues. The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin allows himself rather harsh statements about what he thinks is insufficient support from Germany. There are other not very pleasant incidents in bilateral relations. We should not expect immediate changes, but a gradual accumulation of fatigue can be assumed. But this does not mean that Germany will change its position towards Russia, Kortunov believes.

Earlier, Zelensky refused to accept Steinmeier in Kyiv. He explained his act by dissatisfaction with the former role of the politician in building relations with Russia. It is known that Steinmeier planned to visit Ukraine on April 13.

The German Chancellor expressed bewilderment over this situation and said that he was not planning a visit to Kyiv yet. Deputy Chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) and Vice Speaker of the Parliament Wolfgang Kubiki advised the chancellor not to go to Ukraine.