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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Zelenskiy telephones with German president after row over cancelled visit

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks during a session of a parliament where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson addresses Ukrainian lawmakers via videolink, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 3, 2022. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke on the phone with the German president on Thursday, the presidential office in Berlin said, one day after Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Kyiv to mend a diplomatic rift between the two countries.

Sources from the presidential office told Reuters that Zelenskiy invited Scholz and Steinmeier to visit Ukraine.

Zelenskiy and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier both described the talk as good, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported, citing a statement from Steinmeier's office.

Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel listens to the speech of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during an awarding ceremony for actor Ulrich Matthes with the Order of Merit in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

The German head of state had planned to visit the Ukrainian capital in mid-April but Kyiv refused to welcome him, amid disquiet over his past support of rapprochement with Russia.

Kyiv's refusal caused a scandal in Germany and prompted Scholz to say he would not visit the war-torn country before the German president had done so.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Rachel More, editing by Kirsti Knolle)

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