Foreign Minister in Kyiv: Germany and Ukraine want to boost armaments cooperation

In view of persistently heavy Russian attacks with drones and rockets, Germany and Ukraine want to boost cooperation in the armaments sector. “Our armaments cooperation is a real trump card,” said Foreign Minister Johann WadePhul (CDU) at a meeting with his colleague Andrij Sybiha in Kiev. “It is a logical continuation of our material deliveries and we can even benefit from it on both sides. We will be better with your wealth of ideas and your experiences.”

WadePhul was accompanied by high -ranking representatives of German armaments companies on his first visit to the capital. Talks between business representatives of both countries and with Ukrainian decision -makers were planned on the edge. The minister wanted to take the armaments off to meet President Wolodymyr Selenskyj. “I think that is in the mutual interest that we work more closely here,” said WadePhul. He hoped that Selenskyj supports this path.

WadePhul sees the new phase of cooperation with Kyiv

One wanted to build a joint venture in the armaments industry “so that Ukraine itself can produce faster and more for its own defense,” said WadePhul. After weapons were primarily delivered, you now need the commitment of German companies in the country. “There is a willingness, but some obstacles still have to be overcome, bureaucratic obstacles, and other problems in cooperation.”

Ukraine: Russia gains military experience

Sybiha warned that today’s Russian armed forces differed from those of 2022. “They gain experience, they also use new technologies on the battlefield” and would test prototypes. This is a danger not only for Ukraine, but for transatlantic security.

Wadephul: Freedom of Ukraine most important task of foreign policy

“The freedom and future of Ukraine is the most important task of our foreign and security policy,” said WadePhul. You will “stand at the side of Ukraine so that it can continue to defend itself successfully – with modern air defense and other weapons, with humanitarian and economic help”. The Russian President Vladimir Putin uses the focus on the Middle East to continue his war, which was contrary to international law, he added to Iran.

In the morning, the minister had arrived in the Ukrainian capital with a special train to the initial visit initially kept secret for security reasons. WadePhul had visited Ukraine for the first time on May 9 as the new Foreign Minister. At that time he took part in an informal meeting of the EU Foreign Minister in the West Ukrainian LWIW (Lemberg).

Minister can be shown Iris-T flight defense position

Right at the beginning of his visit, the minister, together with Sybiha, had an Iris-T flight defense position, which, according to the Federal Foreign Office, plays an important role in the air defense of Kiev. Germany has made six of these systems available to Ukraine.

Wadephule visits damage after severe air strikes on Kyiv

In view of the latest massive air strikes in Russia, WadePhul visited the devastating damage of an attack with drones and rockets on June 17. In one of the most difficult attacks on Kiev recently, part of a apartment block in the Solomjanska district was completely destroyed. According to the Ukrainian side, 23 people died in the house, including children. In addition, 134 people were injured.

An also affected by the attack was an employee of the German embassy who lives with her family in an ground floor apartment directly opposite the block hit. Natalia, 53, described the attack and its consequences to the minister. Your apartment was damaged by the rocket goal pressure wave. The woman survived the attack together with her daughter in a shelter. Her husband, who had stayed in the apartment, was able to get to safety at the last minute – he suffered minor injuries.

Ukraine: Highest number of attacks since the start of the war

The Ukrainian air forces had announced that Russia had fired more than 500 drones, rockets and marching missiles on Ukraine during the night of Sunday. The number of 537 such attacks has been the highest since the beginning of the war, reported media in Ukraine. Accordingly, there were injured and serious damage to civilian infrastructure.

Memory of Holocaust victims

In the afternoon, WadePhul wanted to commemorate the victim of the mass murder of the Jewish population under the German occupation in 1941 in the Babyn Jar memorial. In the narrow gorge of Babyn Jar on the former outskirts of Kiev, the National Socialists shot on 29/30. September 1941 more than 33,000 Jewish men, women and children.