Germany’s Scholz has recently called on other European countries to step up aid to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed bilateral security agreements with Germany and France on Friday.
It is part of a broader move by Kyiv to shore up Western support nearly two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
The Ukrainian leader met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin before travelling to Paris to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.
During a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Zelenskyy commented on the recent death of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny.
He said he was certain President Vladimir Putin was responsible. Scholz said that anyone who criticises the government in Russia “must fear for their safety and their lives.”
Zelenskyy’s meeting with Macron on Friday evening resulted in the signing of a pact on military support for Kyiv.
“This agreement follows the commitments made in the G7 format on the sidelines of the NATO summit in July 2023,” Macron’s office said on Thursday.
The bilateral security and long-term support agreements follow a security deal between Ukraine and the UK. It was signed when British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited Kyiv last month. This agreement covers the next 10 years.
Zelenskyy is set to attend the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering of senior security and foreign policy officials, on Saturday,
Here he will meet with US Vice President Kamala Harris, among others.
Ukraine has been put on the defensive in its grinding war with Russia, hampered by low ammunition supplies and a shortage of manpower, although it has maintained attacks behind the largely static 1,500-kilometre front line.__Courtesy EuroNews
