In Kyiv, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Federal Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz. They discussed strengthening Ukraine’s defense and additional funding for energy infrastructure ahead of winter.
The Head of State thanked Friedrich Merz for visiting Ukraine at a time when Russian drone strikes on Kyiv are taking place virtually every hour. According to the President, the Chancellor’s visit is the right signal of support for Ukraine and of the courage of Germany and all of Europe.
“I am very grateful that this visit is taking place, that the German embassy continues its work in Ukraine, and that the full range of our cooperation with Germany, our strategic partnership, remains intact,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Friedrich Merz emphasized that Germany continues to support Ukraine and Ukrainians and will do so until the war ends.
“We are doing this not only to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but we are doing it out of deep conviction and in our own interests, because this is about Europe’s security and the continuation of the political order that we have rightfully built in Europe since World War II,” the Chancellor noted.
First and foremost, the meeting focused on defense assistance. Friedrich Merz announced a new comprehensive support package worth more than €1.3 billion. The Head of State thanked him for this strong step of support at such a difficult time for Ukraine.
“It includes weapons that will help us now, as well as support for our energy sector, which is very important, ahead of winter – an important energy package. This comprehensive package from Germany also includes funding for the production of new interceptors specifically against jet-powered “shaheds,” and this is particularly important,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted.
The President noted that because of Russia’s lack of success on the front, this week alone the Russians launched 900 jet-powered “shaheds,” a significant number of regular attack drones, and ballistic missiles. The leaders discussed joint efforts to counter drones. According to the Head of State, this is particularly important in light of Russia’s recent attempts to carry out sabotage at an airfield in Leipzig and other acts of sabotage across Europe.
The Head of State noted that German Unity Day, which was marked the day before, is one of the most important days not only for the German state, but for all of Europe. It proves that peoples always prevail over dictators. And the cooperation between Ukraine and Germany demonstrates the same thing: Russia and its “shaheds” and missiles will not defeat Ukraine and life.
“We are helping each other. That is true. Ukraine and Germany are already jointly producing drones. Ukraine will purchase more weapons and equipment from Germany. Work has begun – joint work – on creating UAV units; there are relevant proposals – UAV units in Germany,” the President emphasized.
Today, Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ivan Vyhivskyi and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to Ukraine Boris Ruge also signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on Cooperation in the Field of Countering Unmanned Systems.
“As of today, we have 15 agreements and documents with the German side, and most of them concern security cooperation, production, relevant procurement, our orders for German industry, and joint projects in Ukraine. The total value of our agreements today is more than €8.5 billion,” the Head of State noted.
Friedrich Merz noted that this was the first time he had visited Ukraine together with a high-level economic delegation, including Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche.
“Business representatives from the defense, industrial, and energy sectors have come here. These businesses want to contribute to defense, supply, and reconstruction,” he added.
The Head of State separately thanked Germany for its participation, together with other leading European countries and companies, in the FREYJA program. To strengthen the security position of our countries, it is important to move quickly, the President emphasized, because this concerns the protection of human lives as well as borders, the sea, and infrastructure.
“Overall, Europe’s potential – in security, political and diplomatic, and technological terms – must be combined to the fullest extent so that the Russians feel that their potential for aggression and sabotage against Europe is clearly smaller than our combined potential. And this can become the right foundation for a new policy of deterring Russia,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Friedrich Merz agreed to continue doing everything possible to ensure that diplomacy finally works and brings peace to Ukraine.
