President Volodymyr Zelensky met with the leaders of Germany’s Bundestag coalition groups, Jens Spahn and Matthias Miersch, to coordinate joint diplomatic efforts and discuss continued support for Ukraine.
Ukrinform reports this with reference to the website of the President of Ukraine.
The President thanked Germany and the German people for their European leadership in providing assistance, and specifically noted Germany’s contribution to strengthening Ukraine’s air defense and its participation in the new PURL initiative.
“We are grateful for the Patriot systems and the missiles for these systems, as well as for the German-made IRIS-T systems. This is important for us because these save the lives of our people. Today is the first of September. And this means that children have the opportunity to go to school, that people have the opportunity to work, and that we can generate revenue for the Ukrainian budget and our economy,” Zelensky said.
The meeting also focused on further strengthening Ukraine’s air shield.
According to Jens Spahn, the German government has allocated €9 billion in aid to Ukraine for the next year.
“For us, it is very important to speak clearly in Europe and in Germany about the brutality of this war. We assure you that the government and the parliament will continue to support you. It is also important for us to demonstrate with this visit that there is unity in the German Bundestag,” Spahn said.
The parties discussed in detail diplomatic efforts, the importance of achieving a ceasefire, and the development of security guarantees. Zelensky emphasized that it has now been two weeks since the talks with the U.S. President and European leaders in Washington. During this time, Russia has shown no willingness to meet at the leaders’ level, but has instead carried out attacks on Ukrainian cities and communities, killing dozens of civilians.
The President stressed that only strong actions can change Russian behavior. Ukraine therefore relies on Germany’s support in increasing pressure on Russia.
The German delegation also visited Bucha, where Russian forces committed atrocities during the occupation in March 2022 and paid tribute to victims in Kyiv at the site of the ballistic missile strike on the night of August 28, as well as to fallen Ukrainian warriors at the memorial on Independence Square.
“It is very important to find an opportunity to achieve a ceasefire. Today is the first day of the school year in Ukraine. Everything must be done so that children do not have to hear air raid sirens, but today they did hear them and had to go to shelters again. As leaders of the parliamentary groups, we will work to help make this (the ceasefire – ed.) possible,” Matthias Miersch summarized.
As reported, the leaders of two Bundestag coalition factions — Jens Spahn of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc and Matthias Miersch of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) — arrived in Kyiv on September 1.
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
Source: Zelensky meets leaders of two Germany’s Bundestag coalition factions
