President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Annalena Baerbock, who is now on her ninth visit to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
“Thank you for your great support and attention to Ukraine and our people. We are grateful to Germany, your Government, and all German people for the significant assistance,” the Head of State said.
The President emphasized that Germany is a leader in Europe in the scale of assistance provided to Ukraine. The total amount of support has already exceeded EUR 43 billion, of which EUR 15 billion was allocated for military needs. The Federal Republic of Germany has made a significant contribution to the strengthening of Ukraine’s air defense: it includes six IRIS-T systems, three Patriot systems, and Gepard anti-aircraft guns.
The Head of State thanked the Bundestag for the decision to provide an additional EUR 3 billion to Ukraine and noted that Annalena Baerbock was one of its initiators. Thus, the total German support this year will amount to 7 billion euros.
The parties also discussed the results of the leaders' summit on support for Ukraine in Paris and the development of security guarantee formats.
Ukraine is also counting on Germany's support on the path to EU membership, in particular, with regard to the swift opening of the first negotiation cluster.
Annalena Baerbock noted that Germany will continue supporting Ukraine, which is currently defending peace and security in all of Europe.
“We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. The German Government will further support a just peace and your membership in the EU,” the Minister said.