Chancellor Merz strengthens Ukraine with a solidarity visit and calls for an end to the war

Kyiv. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz strengthened the Ukrainians' backs in their defensive fight against Russia with a solidarity visit to Kiev and urgently appealed to the Russian President: "Mr. Putin, stop this senseless war!" The Chancellor said he was ready for talks in front of the ruins of the Academy of Sciences, which was destroyed in a drone attack a few days ago. “But these barbaric attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population must stop.”

However, Russia continued to intensify its air strikes on Kiev and the entire Ukraine during the visit. A drone struck again on the northern bridge over the Dnipro River, and the column of smoke was visible from afar. According to official information, at least two people were injured. At the time, the Chancellor was safe in the German embassy just over five kilometers away. In the first five hours of his visit alone, drone alarms were triggered five times in the capital.

Sirens also blared as he toured what remained of the historic Academy of Sciences building with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “These are daily war crimes that are committed here,” said Merz there.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced during Merz's solidarity visit that it would further intensify its strikes against Kiev and other areas of Ukraine. The ministry said Moscow was responding to Zelensky's threats to attack other military facilities and defense plants in Russia. Russia started the war.

Merz was accompanied in Kiev by Economics Minister Katherina Reiche and ten entrepreneurs from the arms and energy sectors in Kiev. The Chancellor brought concrete help. The delivery of thousands of interceptor drones is expected to begin shortly, with which the fast and therefore particularly dangerous Russian jet-powered combat drones can be combated.

In addition, the production of long-range weapons should be pushed forward with which supply lines behind the front in Russia can be attacked. A total of one billion euros should be released from budget funds that have already been approved - and a further 350 million euros for the repair and reconstruction of destroyed power plants.

Germany is Ukraine's biggest supporter in its defensive battle against the Russian war of aggression, which has lasted more than four and a half years. During the visit, 16 corporate agreements were also signed, worth 6.5 billion euros, according to the German delegation. This is primarily about armaments.

Chancellor Merz arrived in Kyiv by train in the morning. Just a few hours earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned foreign visitors and diplomats against staying in Kiev, citing impending attacks. They should leave the city and, above all, stay away from military objects and government buildings, it said in a statement.

Merz did not let this dissuade him from his travel plans. Despite the threats, he deliberately came to Kiev with a large government and business delegation, he said at a joint press conference with Zelensky. "This shows: We will not allow ourselves to be intimidated. We will also not allow ourselves to be intimidated by a drone attack at the same time as our visit."

There were drone alarms six times during the Chancellor's stay. But it was never so critical that he had to go to a shelter. He assumes “that there is no personal danger to the members of my delegation and also to me personally,” he said.

The Chancellor's core message to the Ukrainians in Kiev was: "You can continue to count on our help." Merz had already assured Ukraine of Germany's continued solidarity in a keynote speech in Münster on Thursday - despite all resistance to further billions in aid in his own country. "If we falter in Germany, then Europe falters. If Europe falters, then Ukraine falters too," he warned at the award ceremony for the Westphalian Peace Prize.

With the trip, Merz wanted to make it very clear that Germany is on Ukraine's side. And he once again told the critics of the aid in Germany that the aid was deeply in his own interest. “If Russia is not stopped, sooner or later its war machine will turn against us.”

It is the fourth visit by a chancellor since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Merz's predecessor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was in the war zone twice during his three and a half year term in office. Merz (CDU) visited Kiev in May last year just four days after being sworn in as Chancellor in the Bundestag - together with French President Emmanuel Macron, the then British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

It was the first major joint diplomatic initiative by the Europeans to bring about peace in Ukraine. From Kiev, the four heads of state and government ultimately called on Russia to an unconditional ceasefire. Nothing came of this, and later diplomatic initiatives initially came to nothing.

Merz now hopes to use sustained military pressure to persuade Russia to come to the negotiating table. A few days ago, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul got in touch with Moscow again for the first time in years and met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York. The result was sobering. Lavrov then made a disparaging statement about the conversation: It had brought nothing new.

Derogatory comments came from Moscow again about the Chancellor's visit to Ukraine. “Murderers return to the crime scene,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Moscow tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda. She suspects that the Chancellor is trying to “polish up his increasingly deteriorating image after a series of unsuccessful elections and disputes within the government coalition” in this way.