BERLIN: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit Germany on Wednesday for talks with Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has pledged strong backing for Kyiv in its fight against Russia.
Zelensky’s visit will focus on “German support for Ukraine and efforts to secure a ceasefire” with Russia to end more than three years of war, spokesman Stefan Kornelius said in a statement.
During their Berlin talks from noon (1000 GMT), Zelensky and Merz were also expected to discuss EU efforts to levy more sanctions on Moscow amid a lack of progress so far toward ceasefire and eventual peace talks.
After a joint press conference with Merz, Zelensky was due to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who was to greet him with military honors at his Bellevue Palace.
The Berlin visit comes days after Russia launched some of its heaviest missile and drone attacks of the conflict on Ukraine, and as US President Donald Trump has voiced growing frustration with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin.
Conservative Merz, since taking office on May 6, has vowed to continue strong backing for Ukraine in concert with Paris, London and Warsaw.
He has also pushed to ramp up German defense spending to create Europe’s “strongest conventional army.”
Taking over from center-left leader Olaf Scholz, he has changed the tone in Berlin and voiced harsh criticism of Putin who, Merz charged this week, “obviously sees offers of talks as a sign of weakness.”
Merz, speaking last week in Lithuania – where Germany is building up a tank brigade to help guard NATO’s eastern flank – declared that “there is a threat to us all from Russia.”