Berlin: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Wednesday as Ukraine seeks further military support amid a recent escalation in Russia’s bombing campaign, despite US-led efforts to end the war.
Germany has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since becoming Germany’s leader three weeks ago. European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace talks.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was set to meet in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to hold peace talks at the highest level, including a trilateral meeting with himself, Putin and US President Donald Trump.
“We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. Both the American side knows this, and the Russian side knows this,” he said. Zelenskyy said he would accept any configuration of talks, whether that includes one trilateral meeting or separate meetings with Trump.
Merz said on Monday
that Germany and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Merz’s government hasn’t said whether it will supply its Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, something his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, refused to do and which Merz advocated for as opposition leader.
The government has said it would no longer provide full details of the weapons it’s supplying to Ukraine, unlike Scholz’s administration, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity.”
Taurus missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles). The German- and Swedish-made missiles, which are equipped with stealth technology, would be able to reach targets deep in Russia from Ukrainian soil, including the Black Sea.