BERLIN (AP) — Berlin police said Wednesday that they are getting ready for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to visit Germany's capital this month.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz invited Zelenskyy to come, and the Berlin police department is preparing for the visit to take place May 13-14, police spokesperson Anja Dierschke said.
It would be Zelenskyy’s first visit to Germany since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
The chancellor's office did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation. Scholz's spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, told German news agency dpa that the chancellor’s appointments would not be announced until Friday for the following week.
Dierschke said Zelenskyy was expected in Berlin on the evening of Saturday, May 13.
The next day, the president and the people of Ukraine are set to receive the International Charlemagne Prize, awarded annually by the western German city of Aachen for contributions to European unity. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is scheduled to give the speech honoring Zelenskyy.
Scholz visited Zelenskyy in Kyiv in June 2022 together with the leaders of France, Italy and Romania.
Germany has provided Ukraine with significant military and humanitarian aid, although relations between the two countries were strained at the start of the war.
Initially, Scholz’s government was criticized both at home and abroad for being slower in giving weapons to Ukraine than the United States and some smaller European countries.
Zelenskyy has visited several other countries since the outbreak of the war, including the United States, the U.K. and France. On Wednesday, he arrived in Finland.
