President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with co-chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany Lars Klingbeil and chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag Rolf Mützenich, who are on a visit to Ukraine. The meeting was also attended by Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak and his deputies Andriy Sybiha and Roman Mashovets.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude for the comprehensive support for Ukraine from the first days of full-scale Russian aggression provided by the people and government of Germany, the Bundestag, personally by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. "Thank you for standing with Ukraine. It is important to further strengthen our allied relations," the President said.
The Head of State particularly thanked Germany for sheltering more than a million forcibly displaced persons from Ukraine, leadership in the formation of the tank coalition by providing German Leopard tanks and contribution to the protection of Ukrainian skies by transferring the highly effective IRIS-T air defense system.
"We pulled through this winter thanks to Germany as well. We will never forget it," he emphasized.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that Germany, as one of the leaders of the European Union, would continue to actively support Ukraine's European integration aspirations and the beginning of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU this year. The parties also discussed the need to strengthen sanctions against Russia in the next EU sanctions package and to provide Ukraine with effective security guarantees even before joining NATO, taking into account the relevant developments of the Yermak-Rasmussen group.
The President emphasized that Ukraine counts on Germany's effective role in the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula, in particular in holding a "peace summit" with the participation of the widest possible range of UN member states. Germany's assistance in endorsing the UN General Assembly resolution on the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the crime of Russian aggression is also important.