President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with Federal Minister of Defense of Germany Boris Pistorius, who arrived in our country for the seventh time.
The Head of State thanked the Minister and his team, the Government of Germany, Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and the German people for all their assistance since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale aggression. Germany’s total military support over this period has reached more than EUR 28.6 billion.
The parties discussed the development of joint defense production.
“I believe this is a real step forward. We can already count on six projects, but I think this is only the beginning of our military-technical cooperation. I want to discuss with you a 10-year Drone Deal, joint production between Ukraine and Germany,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
The President also noted the agreements with Germany on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and the relevant documents signed in April. This is important for protecting energy infrastructure, particularly after last winter, which was very difficult for our country.
The Head of State also emphasized that Europe must be self-sufficient in defending against any threats, especially ballistic ones, and therefore it is necessary to increase anti-ballistic capabilities and develop the corresponding production. During the meeting, the parties discussed how they could move forward in this direction.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Boris Pistorius also focused on the diplomatic process for achieving peace and Europe’s place in it. The parties agree that Europe’s participation in the negotiation process must be ensured, since a lot depends on Europe both in the peace settlement and in the reconstruction of our country. The Head of State and the German Defense Minister also discussed multilateral work with partners in the EU and NATO.