Germany–Ukraine relations

Germany–Ukraine relations

Germany	Ukraine
Diplomatic mission
Embassy of Germany, Kyiv	Embassy of Ukraine, Berlin
Envoy
Ambassador Anka Feldguzen	Ambassador Andriy Melnyk

Germany–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Germany and Ukraine. Diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Germany originally were established in 1918 as between Ukrainian People's Republic and German Empire, but were discontinued soon thereafter due to occupation of Ukraine by the Red Army. Current relations were resumed in 1989 at a consulate level, and in 1992 as full-scale diplomatic mission.

History

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (center) with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (left), 7 February 2015. American Vice President Joe Biden is to the right.

• 1918 - In the aftermath of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, German troops provided military assistance to Ukraine against the Soviet Russia; German military administration was instrumental in Pavlo Skoropadskyi coup against the Ukrainian People's Republic (April 1918) and the establishment of the short-lived Ukrainian State; the first German Ambassador to Ukraine was Alfons Mumm von Schwarzenstein; the first Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany was Oleksandr Sevriuk (as Chargé d'affaires) who was replaced with Teodor Shteingel.
• 1941-1944 - German troops (with the help of Italians, Romanians, and Hungarians) occupy most of Soviet Ukraine and portioning between General Government and Reichskommissariat Ukraine; OUN's Ukrainian Insurgent Army alternates between fighting the Germans and accepting their help against the Soviets.
• 1944-1950s - surviving OUN leaders find refuge in the US occupation zone of Germany, which becomes home to many Ukrainian displaced persons
• 1953 - Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (then called "Radio Liberation") starts its operations in Munich, broadcasting to Ukraine in Ukrainian
• 1959 - Stepan Bandera killed in Munich by a Soviet agent
• 2011 - the Nord Stream makes Ukraine economically vulnerable
• 2014 - Germany belongs to the Normandy format.
• 2014 - EU sanctions against Russia. Ostpolitik policy was dramatically shaken after 2014 as Russia threatened Ukraine, seized Crimea, and sponsored fighting in eastern Ukraine bordering on civil war. Berlin denounced Moscow's actions as a violation of international law, and took a leadership role in formulating EU sanctions. However, Germany depends heavily on Russian energy supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline, so it has proceeded cautiously and opposes American efforts to cancel Nord Stream.
• 2018 - the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany was opposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
• 2022 - Germany blocks arms supplies to Ukraine during the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis. British Royal Air Force C-17 planes take a long detour around German air space to deliver thousands of NLAW anti-tank weapons to Kyiv. Ukraine's foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba states that Ukrainians will remember Germany's position "for decades".
• 2022 - The German ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen is summoned to Ukraine's foreign ministry over comments by German navy chief Kay-Achim Schönbach; vice admiral Kay-Achim Schönbach resigns.
• 2022 - Annalena Baerbock as a representative of Germany's foreign ministry requested German citizens to urgently leave Ukraine as Russia poised to invade Ukraine, Furthermore, after G7 meeting, she assured the united support by the group for Ukraine.
• 2022 - On Saturday, February 26, Germany abandoned a long-standing policy of never sending weapons to conflict zones; it increased instead its support for Ukraine's fight against Russia, sanctioning arms transfers to Kyiv in a policy reversal and agreeing to block Moscow's access to the SWIFT interbank system.

Diplomatic missions location

Germany has an embassy in Kyiv and 1 Consulate-General in Donetsk (due to Russian aggression (War in Donbass) temporarily in Dnipro).

Ukraine has an embassy in Berlin and 3 Consulates-General in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.

Head of missions (1917-1920s)

Germany

• 1917-18 Alfons Mumm von Schwarzenstein
• 1918-19 Johannes (Hans) Graf von Berchem

Ukraine

• 1918-18 Oleksandr Sevriuk (chargé d'affaires)
• 1918-18 Omelian Koziy (chargé d'affaires)
• 1918-18 Teodor Shteingel
• 1918-20 Mykola Porsh
• 1921-23 Roman Smal-Stocki
• 1923-23 Nikolaus von Wassilko (chargé d'affaires)

Soviets (representative of the Soviet government in Ukraine)

• 1921-23 Voldemar Aussem

Resident diplomatic missions

• Germany has an embassy in Kyiv.
• Ukraine has an embassy in Berlin and consulates-general in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Munich.

• 

  Embassy of Germany in Kyiv

• 

  Embassy of Ukraine in Berlin

See also

• Ukrainian diaspora
• Cold War II
• Ukrainians in Germany
• Germans in Ukraine
• Ukraine–EU relations
• Russo-Ukrainian War

Further reading

• Dembińska, Magdalena, and Frederic Mérand, eds. Cooperation and Conflict between Europe and Russia (Routledge, 2021).
• Fix, Liana. "The different ‘shades’ of German power: Germany and EU foreign policy during the Ukraine Conflict." German Politics 27.4 (2018): 498-515. online
• Siddi, Marfco. "German foreign policy towards Russia in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis: A new Ostpolitik?." Europe-Asia Studies 68.4 (2016): 665-677.

External links

• German Foreign Ministry about relations with Ukraine
• German embassy in Kyiv (in German and Ukrainian only)
• Ukrainian embassy in Berlin (in German and Ukrainian only)