Tanks, armored vehicles, anti-aircraft defense systems… On the eve of Volodymyr Zelensky’s arrival in Germany, Berlin announced a new military aid plan for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will travel to Germany on Sunday to meet the leaders of Europe’s largest economy, a government source in Berlin told AFP on Saturday.
This trip will take place the day after Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Rome on Saturday and when the German government has just announced new arms deliveries to Kiev worth 2.7 billion euros, including tanks, armored vehicles, drones and air defense systems.
The program of the visit has not yet been officially unveiled but, according to leaks in the German media, the Ukrainian head of state should meet in particular with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
2.7 billion euros in military aid
Volodymyr Zelensky is also to be awarded the Charlemagne Prize during the day, a distinction rewarding a particularly striking commitment in favor of harmony in Europe.
However, it is not yet certain that he will go to Aachen to receive him in person. This city is located in western Germany near the Belgian border, hundreds of kilometers from Berlin.
“For the first time in its long history, the Charlemagne Prize recognizes with this award that freedom and the fundamental principles of Europe must if necessary be defended by force”, underlined this week the director of the committee organizing the prize, Jürgen Linden, in the German daily Tagesspiegel.
On the eve of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Germany, Berlin announced a new military aid plan for Ukraine worth 2.7 billion euros, including the delivery of numerous tanks, armored vehicles and anti-aircraft defense systems.
“Red lines” still not crossed
“We all want a quick end to this atrocious war by Russia against the Ukrainian people, but unfortunately it is not in sight. That is why Germany will provide all the help it can, for as long as necessary. “, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a statement.
This is, according to the weekly The mirror, of Berlin’s largest arms shipment package to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. However, Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrij Melnyk said he did not go far enough.
“It is a pity that most of the promised defense systems are old, they are not modern tanks or armored vehicles of the German army, such as Leopard 2 or Boxer models”, regretted the former Ukrainian ambassador in Germany, on the television channel Welt TV.
“It is also disappointing to see that the German government continues to refuse to cross the red lines that it has set itself, in particular concerning the delivery of combat aircraft, this taboo must be urgently broken”, he said. added.
