By Staff Reporter
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged another €1 billion (about R18.7 billion) in military aid to Ukraine on Sunday, saying Berlin would not be intimidated into dropping its support as Russian drone attacks hit Kyiv during his visit.
According to Reuters, air-raid sirens and explosions sounded repeatedly across the Ukrainian capital as Merz met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and visited sites damaged in recent Russian strikes.
Merz also announced €350 million (about R6.55 billion) to help repair Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which has come under sustained Russian attack in recent weeks.
The German chancellor and Zelenskiy visited a memorial to soldiers killed during the war and Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences, where at least two people died in a drone strike last week.
Russia has stepped up attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, targeting electricity, telecommunications and transport infrastructure as well as military assets.
Speaking alongside Zelenskiy, Merz said Moscow was trying to break Ukrainian morale.
“We do this not only to protect Ukraine’s territorial integrity; we do it deeply in our own interest, for it is a matter of Europe’s security,” Merz said.
He said Russia was also carrying out cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns targeting Europe.
“This demonstrates that we will not be intimidated,” he said.
Russia has rejected accusations of hybrid warfare as baseless.
According to Reuters, German executives travelling with Merz also signed 16 agreements with Ukrainian authorities and businesses worth about €6.5 billion (about R121.6 billion).
The agreements included a deal with Diehl Defence for IRIS-T air-defence missiles, radar equipment from Hensoldt and jet-drone interceptors from Quantum Systems.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine and Germany were close to finalising a broader defence agreement involving drones, missiles and related software.
Russian attacks continued during Merz’s visit.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a strike hit the Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River, damaging the roadway and injuring two people.
Zelenskiy said the escalation in Russian air strikes was aimed at forcing residents to leave Ukraine’s major cities and vowed that Kyiv would respond.
“If our bridges collapse, we will manage to get out of this situation, but his people will feel it too,” he said.
Zelenskiy also said US peace envoy Steve Witkoff had urged a return to trilateral talks and that Ukraine was willing to meet this month if Russia agreed.
Merz earlier appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to end what he called a “senseless war”.
“We are ready for talks, we are ready to discuss bringing this war to an end, but these barbaric attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop,” he said.
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