Germany's Merz visits Kyiv as Ukraine and Germany announce agreements worth over €8.5 billion

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a post on X that he held a "very productive" meeting in Kyiv with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday. [1]

Zelenskyy said the meeting produced a new support package for Ukraine worth more than €1.3 billion. He said it includes weapons for immediate use and an energy package to help Ukraine's power sector before winter. He added that the two leaders discussed air defense, which he called critical at this time. [1]

Zelenskyy said the two countries now have 15 agreements and documents, most of them on security cooperation, production, procurement, orders for German industry and joint projects in Ukraine. He put their combined value at more than €8.5 billion. He said one agreement was signed specifically to expand cooperation on countering drones. [1]

In a later post, Zelenskyy said he and Merz described the talks at a press conference. He said the Chancellor's presence in Kyiv was a signal of support at a time when Russian drone strikes were happening "virtually every hour." [3]

Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Germany are already jointly producing drones, that Ukraine will buy more weapons and equipment from Germany, and that joint work on creating drone units in Germany has begun. He said Ukraine is ready to help with training and to expand the use of its energy protection technologies. [3]

Zelenskyy and Merz also met representatives of the Ukrainian-German Business Forum, where Zelenskyy said companies from both countries made 15 agreements on joint production, jobs and large orders, mainly for German industry but also for Ukrainian industry. [4] Zelenskyy later told reporters the overall agreement was worth €8.5 billion and described it as historic. He said Ukraine is sharing its knowledge and experience, placing orders and co-producing with German partners. [2]