German Chancellor Merz visits Kyiv, announces €1.35 billion in aid and calls on Putin to stop attacks
German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on 4 October, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt attacks on Ukraine. Merz announced a new aid package of €1 billion in military assistance and €350 million for energy-sector recovery, and pledged further support including interceptor drones and long-range weapons production. The visit was marked by multiple air-raid sirens in Kyiv and a Russian drone strike on the Pivdennyi (Northern) Bridge the same morning.
Key points
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on the morning of 4 October on an unannounced visit with a government and economic delegation.
- Merz called on Vladimir Putin to stop attacks on Ukraine and said Germany is ready for negotiations to end the war.
- Germany announced a new aid package of €1 billion in military assistance and €350 million for energy-sector recovery.
- Merz pledged further support, including delivery of thousands of interceptor drones and acceleration of long-range weapons production.
- Accompanied by Zelensky, Merz visited the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine building, hit by a Russian drone strike on 28 September that killed two people and injured seven.
- Air-raid sirens sounded multiple times in Kyiv during the visit; the Pivdennyi (Northern) Bridge was damaged by a Russian strike that same morning.
- Zelensky announced new defense agreements between Ukraine and Germany, putting the total value of bilateral agreements at more than €8.5 billion across 15 documents.
Why it matters
Merz's trip made him the first sitting German Chancellor to visit Kyiv since the start of the full-scale war, underlining the depth of Germany's political engagement. The combined €1.35 billion in military and energy-sector support comes as Ukraine faces daily infrastructure strikes ahead of winter. Merz publicly tied Germany's openness to negotiations to a Russian halt of attacks on civilians, putting that conditional diplomatic position on record in Kyiv. The visit also coincided with a reported US push to organize a Ukraine–Russia meeting in October on a limited ceasefire.
What happened
German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on the morning of 4 October on an unannounced visit, accompanied by a government and economic delegation that included Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Katherina Reiche. At the start of the visit, he honored the memory of fallen Ukrainian defenders. Together with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merz toured the building of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, which had been struck by a Russian drone on 28 September in an attack that killed two people, injured seven, and caused critical damage. The Academy is located a few hundred meters from the German Embassy in Kyiv. Air-raid sirens sounded multiple times during the visit; the head of the State Emergency Service, Andriy Danyk, showed Merz the real-time movement of Russian drones using special software. Earlier the same day, a strike damaged the Pivdennyi (Northern) Bridge over the Dnipro River in Kyiv. Merz called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop attacks on Ukraine and said Germany is ready for negotiations to end the war, but only once weapons fall silent. He announced a new aid package of €1 billion in military assistance and €350 million for energy-sector recovery, and pledged further support including thousands of interceptor drones and accelerated production of long-range weapons. Zelensky announced new defense agreements between Ukraine and Germany and said the two countries now have 15 agreements in place with a combined value of more than €8.5 billion. A separate agreement was signed to expand joint counter-drone capabilities.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
The three Ukrainian sources (Ukrainska Pravda, NV, ZN.UA, Novynarnia, Radio Svoboda, and Ukrinform) frame the visit primarily through the lens of Zelensky's bilateral meeting with Merz and the new defense agreements announced during the trip. They emphasize Merz's public appeal to Putin and Germany's stated refusal to be intimidated by Moscow, as well as the symbolic moments of the visit: honoring fallen defenders, visiting the drone-damaged National Academy of Sciences, and Merz remaining at the site during an air-raid siren — which Zelensky called a brave signal from the Chancellor personally and from Germany as a whole. Ukrainian outlets also highlight the aid package and Zelensky's description of the total bilateral agreements at more than €8.5 billion across 15 documents.
Background
The visit came against the backdrop of intensified Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of winter. On 28 September, a drone hit the Academy of Sciences building in central Kyiv, killing two and wounding seven; Zelensky said video evidence showed the strike was deliberate. The Atlantic reported on 29 September that the United States planned to organize an October meeting between Ukrainian and Russian representatives to discuss a limited ceasefire. Ahead of Merz's trip, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned foreign citizens, including diplomatic personnel, to stay away from Ukraine and claimed that massive strikes on Kyiv would continue — a warning similar to one issued in May, which leaders of other countries had rejected at the time.