FIGHTING WORDS

Ukrainian Ambassador Dubs German Chancellor an ‘Offended Liver Sausage’

Andriy Melnyk accused Olaf Scholz of not being very “statesmanlike” by declining to visit Ukraine.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany has accused the German chancellor of behaving like an “offended liver sausage” by declining to visit Kyiv. In comments to the German Press Agency published Tuesday, Andriy Melnyk suggested Olaf Scholz was being childish for opting out of a visit after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky snubbed German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier last month, declining his offer to meet because he said Steinmeier had cultivated close ties with Moscow. “Playing an offended liverwurst doesn’t sound very statesmanlike,” Melnyk said of Scholz’s decision, using a German colloquialism commonly employed to describe someone as a prima donna. “It’s about the most brutal war of annihilation since the Nazi attack on Ukraine—it’s not a kindergarten,” Melnyk was quoted saying. He went on to say that what Ukraine needs more than “symbolic visits” is for Germany to follow through on a proposal to supply more heavy weapons. Scholz, in an interview with German broadcaster ZDF on Monday, had scoffed at Steinmeier’s visit being rejected, calling it a “remarkable event.”