Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Kyiv on Sunday as Germany pledged about 1.3 billion euros in military and energy aid, and the two sides signed a larger set of cooperation documents.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was in Kyiv on Sunday for talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky said Germany would provide another 1.3 billion euros, about 1.46 billion dollars, in military and energy aid.
Merz told a joint press conference that about 1 billion euros would be military aid, much of it for interceptor drones aimed at jet-powered attack drones, and about 350 million euros would go to generators and repairs of power infrastructure, the Kyiv Independent reported via bne IntelliNews. A related account said the military share also covered long-range strike weapons, combat drones and satellite equipment.
Zelensky said on Telegram that the two sides signed 15 agreements and documents, mostly on security cooperation, joint production, procurement and Ukrainian orders for German industry, with a combined value he put above 8.5 billion euros. They include an agreement on joint counter-drone work.
Merz arrived by train with Economy Minister Katherina Reiche and executives from Siemens Energy, Hensoldt, Diehl Defence and Quantum Systems, Reuters reported. He visited the National Academy of Sciences building in central Kyiv, damaged by a Russian drone on September 28. Four air-raid alerts sounded over the capital that morning.
Zelensky said Ukraine's Bars interceptor had shown the best results so far and downs up to 30 percent of its targets. How quickly the new German financing turns into delivered systems was not specified on Sunday.