The visit was part of a busy week of visits to several key European allies to seek military and financial support ahead of an expected major Ukrainian counterattack on Russian forces.
The visit is Zelenskyy’s first to Berlin since the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022.
Here are the highlights of Zelenskyy’s statements during a joint press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz:
This is the moment when we decide to end the war this year, we can make the defeat of the aggressor irreversible this year. Kyiv is ready to discuss external peace initiatives, but these proposals must be based on Ukraine’s position and peace plan. The war is taking place on the territory of our country and therefore any peace plan will be based on Ukraine’s proposals.
For his part, Schulz stressed Germany’s commitment to continue supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary, and declined to answer a question about past tensions in bilateral relations and another question about hopes. of Kiev to join NATO.
“Ukraine is ready for peace. But it demands, with the right and with our support, that this does not mean freezing the war and getting some form of peace dictated by Russia,” Schultz said.
Germany, Europe’s largest economy, was criticized early in the war for what some described as a reluctance to provide support, but it has become one of the largest providers of financial and military support to Ukraine.
On Saturday, Germany announced 2.7 billion euros ($3 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, its biggest military aid package since the start of the war.
Zelenskyy’s visit comes as the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that two of its military commanders had been killed in eastern Ukraine, as Kiev forces resumed efforts to break through Russian defenses in the town of Bakhmut, at the center of months of bloody clashes.
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