Zelensky expects Germany's Scholz to support granting EU candidate country status to Ukraine

MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he expects German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will support granting European Union candidate country status to Ukraine.

"We do expect, I do expect, that Mr. Scholz will express this confidence," Ukrainian media quoted Zelensky as saying in an interview with the German TV company ZDF.

Zelensky admitted the presence of "certain skepticism in relations between the German leadership and Ukraine."

"I don't think this skepticism has been caused by Chancellor Scholz, I don't think this is something new. I think we have excellent relations between the two peoples and fairly good relations between the leaders of the two countries. But I think this skepticism is manifested primarily when Ukraine's future membership of the EU and NATO is discussed," he said.

"We expect Chancellor Scholz to assure us that Germany will support Ukraine and that he and his government should make a decision: you can't be trying to balance between Ukraine and relations with Russia, you should choose for yourselves how to set priorities," Zelensky said.