Some German politicians have expressed irritation and surprise that Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is not welcome in Kyiv - saying his planned visit with leaders from Poland and the Baltic states would have shown German solidarity with Ukraine.
In an angry tweet, Aydan Özoguz, a leading member of Mr Steinmeier's Social Democrat party, said it was irritating, and not particularly clever for Ukraine to demand a lot of support from Germany but to be unwilling to see the president.
But many in Germany say they understand Ukraine’s position, and want Berlin to do more to support Kyiv - including acting quicker to supply arms and to ban Russian energy.
As foreign minister, under Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Steinmeier tried to achieve peace with Russia through trade, diplomacy and energy links.
Last week he admitted he had been wrong about Russia, saying that German policy towards Moscow had failed and that he was mistaken for trying to build bridges with Putin and for supporting the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.