President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
At the beginning, the leaders congratulated each other on the New Year holidays. The situation in Ukraine and Germany related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the supply of vaccine against this infection was then discussed in detail. Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Angela Merkel to help speed up the obtaining of the vaccine by Ukraine.
"The key task now is to protect the most vulnerable categories of citizens: the elderly, doctors, servicemen. The emergence of certified vaccines gives us all hope," the President of Ukraine said.
The President of Ukraine informed the German Chancellor in detail about the situation in Donbas, emphasizing that the ceasefire, which has been in place since July 27, 2020, is generally observed, albeit with difficulties and provocations. He informed the Chancellor about the death of a Ukrainian warrior this week and about the wounded soldier the day before.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed that, apart from the ceasefire, there is virtually no progress on other aspects of the peace settlement, although Ukraine has fulfilled all the agreements reached at the meeting of the leaders of the "Normandy Four" in Paris in December 2019.
Both parties acknowledged that the talks between the advisers to the leaders of the "Normandy Four" on January 12 this year in Berlin were difficult yet constructive. Ukraine and Germany look forward to the next consultations on January 22.
The President invited Germany to join the international platform for the deoccupation of Crimea, and also invited Angela Merkel to visit Kyiv on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine's independence.