German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius arrived in Kyiv early Thursday for a one-day working visit focused on expanding Berlin’s military support to Ukraine.
Agenda
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Talks with Ukrainian counterparts – meetings are planned with Defence Minister Rustem Umerov and other senior officials to review current aid programmes and outline future deliveries.
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Assessment of the battlefield situation – briefings on the recent escalation in Russian missile and drone attacks.
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Signal of political backing – reaffirmation of Germany’s commitment to Ukraine’s security and long-term resilience.
Key statements
“We will continue to do all we can so that Ukraine can defend itself and reach a position from which Russia must take serious negotiations into account.”
— Boris Pistorius, at Kyiv rail station
Pistorius denounced Moscow’s latest wave of air-strikes as “extremely brutal and increasingly directed at civilian targets,” underscoring, in his words, “Russia’s current disinterest in any peaceful resolution.”
Context
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The visit follows internal German debate sparked by a so-called “Manifesto” signed by more than 100 Social Democratic Party figures, urging talks with Moscow and opposing the deployment of additional U.S. medium-range missiles in Germany.
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Pistorius publicly distanced himself from the document, saying its authors “ignore reality” while Russian forces intensify attacks.
This is Pistorius’s third trip to Ukraine since taking office, underlining Germany’s role as one of Kyiv’s principal defence partners.
