Friedrich Merz begins unannounced Kyiv visit as Russia continues strikes on Ukraine’s capital – Europe live

German chancellor tours city with president Zelenskyy after Moscow strikes city’s North Bridge this morning amid his arrival Germany is Ukraine’s largest donor and has sent Kyiv more than €43.3 billion ($48.8 billion) since the war began, along with equipment and weapons. Zelenskyy thanked Merz for visiting the Ukrainian capital describing him as “A leader of a country that consistently demonstrates leadership in protecting the lives of Ukrainians from Russian strikes. We are grateful for all the support, and today we are preparing decisions to give us in Ukraine, and all of Europe, greater capabilities to defend ourselves.

There will be important agreements between Ukraine and Germany. Russia must be stopped together.” Zelenskyy in the past hour has been tweeting about the strikes and the German chancellor’s visit, thanking Merz for his support. On the Kyiv strike this morning he confirmed it had been a drone on the Northern Bridge (Pivnichnyi Bridge). He noted too a drone attack on a pharmaceutical warehouse in Sumy which killed one person and a strike on a communications facility in Dnipro. Continue reading...