London, May 29: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin on Wednesday as Ukraine seeks further military support amid a recent escalation in Russia’s bombing campaign, despite US-led efforts to end the war.Germany has been the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to try to secure a ceasefire and keep Western support for Ukraine intact since becoming Germany’s leader three weeks ago. European leaders have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in US-led peace talks.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul was set to meet in Washington with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Ukraine is ready to hold peace talks at the highest level, including a trilateral meeting with himself, Putin and US President Donald Trump.
“We are ready to meet at the level of leaders. Both the American side knows this, and the Russian side knows this,” he said. Zelenskyy said he would accept any configuration of talks, whether that includes one trilateral meeting or separate meetings with Trump.
Merz said on Monday that Germany and other major allies are no longer imposing any range restrictions on weapons supplied to Ukraine as it fights to repel Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in February 2022.
Merz’s government hasn’t said whether it will supply its Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, something his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, refused to do and which Merz advocated for as opposition leader. The government has said it would no longer provide full details of the weapons it’s supplying to Ukraine, unlike Scholz’s administration, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity.”
Taurus missiles have a range of up to 500 kilometres (310 miles). The German- and Swedish-made missiles, which are equipped with stealth technology, would be able to reach targets deep in Russia from Ukrainian soil, including the Black Sea. Ukraine wants the missiles to complement the long-range Storm Shadow missiles sent by Britain and France’s nearly identical Scalp cruise missiles.
Zelenskyy said that he plans to discuss the supply and use of long-range weapons in his talks with Merz. The Ukrainian leader said Tuesday that he hasn’t received any indications from Germany that their policy of limiting the use of Western weapons against Russian targets has changed.
Ukraine needs $30 billion in additional financing to help it compete with Russia in the production of drones and missiles, Zelenskyy said. Russia is aiming to produce 300-350 drones per day, he said.
Meanwhile, fighting has continued along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line, and both sides have conducted deep strikes. Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the war against Ukraine on Sunday.
Russian air defences downed 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 Russian regions late Tuesday and early Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said, in what appeared to be one of the biggest Ukrainian drone assaults of the war.
Ukraine is increasing its domestic production of drones and missiles, according to Zelenskyy. He said late Tuesday that Ukraine wants European countries to help it invest in the manufacturing of attack drones, air defence interceptors, cruise missiles and ballistic systems.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that air defences shot down Ukrainian 33 drones heading toward the capital.
Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, said that 42 drones were downed. He said that drone fragments damaged three residential buildings in the village of Troitskoye, but no one was hurt.
Moscow airports delayed or diverted hundreds of flights.