German Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday announced military aid for Ukraine worth about 1 billion euros (US$1.13 billion) and an energy support package during a visit to Kyiv, as the Ukrainian capital the same day came under renewed attack from Russian drones.
Merz, who was accompanied by a senior minister and several company executives, said his visit “demonstrates that we will not be intimidated. Nor will we be intimidated by a drone attack occurring at the very time of our visit.”
He arrived in Kyiv yesterday for an unannounced visit.
Photo: AFP / Ukrainian Foreign Ministry
The aerial war has intensified, with Moscow menacing cities across Ukraine with hard-to-intercept ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones, while Kyiv has been striking Russia’s oil industry and businesses.
Merz said he traveled to the Ukrainian capital to demonstrate his country’s solidarity with Ukraine. Germany is Ukraine’s largest donor, sending Kyiv more than 43.3 billion euros since the war began, along with equipment and weapons.
“If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us,” he said, adding that he told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy: “You can continue to count on our help.”
The partnership between the two countries was “not a one-way street,” he said, pointing to German and Ukrainian companies jointly developing technologies that benefit both sides.
“This makes us safer and stronger,” he added.
In a post on X, Zelenskiy thanked Germany and said the two countries would make “important agreements” during the visit to bolster Ukraine’s defenses and those of the rest of Europe.
“Russia must be stopped together,” he wrote.
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said the agenda would focus on “strengthening Ukraine, our defense and resilience and our shared European security.”
Merz and Zelenskiy visited a building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in central Kyiv that was damaged in a Russian attack on Monday last week.
“These barbaric attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop. These are daily war crimes,” Merz said at the site.
He called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end “this senseless war,” adding: “We’re ready to talk.”
Zelenskiy called the attack on the academy “absolutely terrible” and said that Russia was carrying out strikes even while the chancellor was in Kyiv.
He thanked Merz for the visit, saying Ukraine was buoyed by its “strong partners.”
The Philippine Coast Guard yesterday said it has deployed its largest vessel and an aircraft to challenge a Chinese research ship operating off northern Batanes near Taiwan, adding that a Chinese coast guard vessel had also moved in. The Philippine operation “disrupted the vessel’s unauthorized marine scientific research and compelled it to leave its loitering position,” said Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson on South China Sea issues. The Philippine Coast Guard said the BRP Teresa Magbanua and an aircraft were deployed to counter the Chinese vessel, which it said had remained about 37 nautical miles northwest of Itbayat Island since Monday. The
RUNWAY: Analysts said the first aircraft landing is expected by the middle of next year, while Chinese state media said it would serve civilian needs Chinese construction of a runway on Antelope Reef (Lingyang Reef, 羚羊礁) in the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島), is well under way with analysts estimating it could be completed by the middle of next year, strengthening Beijing’s military control over the disputed South China Sea. Satellite images reviewed by Reuters show grading work, piles of gravel and concrete, and compaction cranes in operation to build a full-scale runway that military attaches and security analysts say could be one of China’s most important offshore bases in the region. The images, taken on Friday last week by commercial satellite imagery provider Vantor, also show
DEFENSE: The US House speaker dismissed speculation that Trump is using arms sales as a negotiating tactic with Beijing amid concern over delayed deliveries Taiwan is a partner whose “stability and independence” are important to US national security and the economy, US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said on Monday when asked about arms sales to Taipei in an interview with Fox Business. Asked whether US President Donald Trump was using a long-delayed US$14 billion arms deal as a negotiating tactic for trade with Beijing, Johnson said that he “wouldn’t read too much into that.” The delayed arms package is “related to the Iran conflict” and the need for missile stocks in the Middle East, he said. “If you look over [Trump’s] two terms, he will
WAITING FOR MORE: The delivery comes amid growing concern in Taiwan about the Trump administration’s commitment to arming Taipei, despite US reassurances Taiwan yesterday took delivery of the first two of 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US after years of delays, helping to strengthen an air force that has to scramble almost daily to shadow China’s military. The aircraft, bearing tail numbers 6727 and 6728, landed at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung County at about noon after departing from Hawaii and making a stop in Guam. The two fighter jets had been expected to arrive in Taiwan by the end of August, but remained in Hawaii without explanation as US President Donald Trump prepared to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping
RSS