President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Jens Spahn and Matthias Miersch, leaders of two coalition factions in the German Bundestag, to coordinate the next joint diplomatic steps and discuss the continuation of financial and defense support for our country.
The Head of State thanked Germany and the German people for their European leadership in providing assistance and especially highlighted Germany’s contribution to bolstering Ukraine’s air defense and its participation in the new PURL initiative.
“We are grateful for the Patriot systems and the missiles for these systems, as well as for the German-made IRIS-T systems. This is important for us because these save the lives of our people. Today is the first of September. And this means that children have the opportunity to go to school, that people have the opportunity to work, and that we can generate revenue for the Ukrainian budget and our economy,” said the President.
During the meeting, they also discussed further strengthening of Ukraine’s air shield.
Jens Spahn noted that for the next year, the German government has allocated €9 billion in aid to Ukraine.
“For us, it is very important to speak clearly in Europe and in Germany about the brutality of this war. We assure you that the government and the parliament will continue to support you. It is also important for us to demonstrate with this visit that there is unity in the German Bundestag,” he said.
The parties discussed diplomatic efforts in detail, the importance of achieving a ceasefire, and the development of security guarantees. Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that it has now been two weeks since the talks with the U.S. President and European leaders in Washington. During this time, Russia has shown no intention of being ready for a meeting at the level of leaders and has instead continued attacking Ukrainian cities and communities, killing dozens of Ukrainians.
The Head of State emphasized that only strong actions can change Russian behavior. That is why Ukraine counts on Germany’s support in stepping up pressure on Russia.
The German delegation members also shared that earlier today they visited Bucha, where Russians committed atrocities during the occupation in March 2022, and paid tribute in Kyiv to those killed in the ballistic missile strike on the night of August 28, as well as to the fallen Ukrainian warriors at the memorial on Independence Square.
“It is very important to find an opportunity to achieve a ceasefire. Today is the first day of the school year in Ukraine. Everything must be done so that children do not have to hear air raid sirens, but today they did hear them and had to go to shelters again. As leaders of the parliamentary groups, we will work to help make this (the ceasefire - ed.) possible,” said Matthias Miersch.