KYIV, Ukraine — Germany will provide Ukraine with a support package worth more than 1.3 billion euros, including weapons and energy assistance, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after meeting Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The package includes weapons Ukraine can use immediately and support for its energy sector ahead of winter, Zelenskyy wrote on X. The two leaders also discussed Ukraine’s need for additional air defenses.
Zelenskyy described the meeting as productive and said Ukraine and Germany completed 15 agreements and documents with a combined value of more than 8.5 billion euros.
Most concern security cooperation, production, procurement, Ukrainian orders from German companies and joint projects in Ukraine, according to the post.
A separate agreement expands cooperation between the two countries on countering drones, Zelenskyy said. He provided no further details, and the figures and terms could not be independently verified from the supplied material.
In a post on his official X account, Merz addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin directly.
“Mr. Putin, end this senseless war.”
Merz arrived in Kyiv with the message, “You can rely on us.” In an earlier post, he wrote that Ukraine faced decisive weeks and that Germany’s security also depended on the war’s outcome.
During the visit, Merz and Zelenskyy went to the National Academy of Sciences in Kyiv. Zelenskyy said a Russian drone strike there killed two people and injured seven.
The Ukrainian president alleged that the academy was deliberately targeted and said video footage supported his assertion. The claim and reported casualties could not be independently verified.
Earlier, Zelenskyy reported that Russia launched 135 attack drones overnight, including more than 50 jet-powered drones.
He said drones struck Kyiv’s Pivnichnyi Bridge, a pharmaceutical warehouse in Sumy and a communications facility in Dnipro. One person was killed in Sumy, and six people were injured in the attacks, according to his post.
Zelenskyy thanked Germany, Merz and other European countries for supporting Ukraine.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
