German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (L) says goodbye to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) as they leave the Bellevue Palace in Berlin, May 14, 2023.
Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday to thank Germany for its support during his first visit to the country since the Russian invasion.
Zelensky arrived in Berlin from Rome, where he met separately with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis on Saturday. The Pope says the Vatican will help repatriate Ukrainian children taken by Russians.
He flew over German airspace on a German government plane, escorted by Luftwaffe fighter jets, and arrived in the middle of the night.
“Germany is proud to be our true friend and reliable ally during the most challenging period in Ukraine’s modern history,” Zelenskiy wrote in a guest book during the German presidency. “Together we will win and bring peace back to Europe.”
Zelensky is later expected to meet German Chancellor Olaf Schulz and his security cabinet before traveling to Aachen, West Germany, to receive the prestigious Charlemagne Award for his contribution to Europe.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, was criticized for what some called a hesitant response at the start of the war, but it has become one of Ukraine’s biggest providers of financial and military aid.
The government on Saturday announced 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, the largest package since Russia’s invasion last February, and pledged further support for Kiev if necessary.
Zelensky hailed it as a “strong package” in a tweet, indicating he aimed to discuss arms supplies with German officials as well as air defence, reconstruction, Ukraine’s candidacy for EU membership and security.
Zelensky last visited Germany in February last year, on the eve of the outbreak of war, on behalf of the Munich Security Council.
At the time, Germany’s support for Ukraine was limited by its energy dependence on Ukraine and a pacifism rooted in its bloody 20th-century history.
That required major policy upheaval and a shift in mindset, which Schulz dubbed a “Zeitenwende,” or a shift of the times, in a landmark speech days after the war broke out.