German Foreign Minister visited the war front in Ukraine
German Foreign Minister Annalina Bierbock again condemned Russian aggression during her visit to the war-torn city of Kharkiv. She said that she wanted to get familiar with the war situation in the region.
German Foreign Minister Annalina Bierbock visited the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday, January 10, where heavy fighting is ongoing. She is the first German cabinet member to visit the war-torn city in Ukraine.
During his visit, he condemned the Russian attacks on the city and reiterated his commitment to German solidarity and support for the Ukrainian people. In this trip, other officials including the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kolyba and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Germany Oleksiy Mekiov were also accompanying him.
The governor of the region, Olya Sanyhobov, said in a message on Telegram that only a few hours after Bierbuk’s visit, Russian forces heavily shelled Kharkiv. He has also advised the residents to stay in shelters.
Bierbok said his visit to Kharkiv was an attempt to familiarize himself with the situation on the ground. Since Ukraine’s airspace is closed, she arrived in Ukraine by overnight train from Poland.
“Above all, I want to hear from the local residents, who are being hit hard by the battle in this bitter cold, when the temperature drops to minus 15 degrees Celsius at night,” she said. Is
DW correspondent Max Zander also accompanied Beerbok on the tour. They say the German foreign minister wants to draw attention to the “destruction of critical infrastructure” such as electricity, heating systems and water caused by Russian attacks.
Beerbok’s trip also included a visit to a children’s hospital and the devastated northeastern district of Saltivka. Kharkiv is located about 50 to 60 km south of Russia. She said she wanted to get to know all Ukrainians “from Kharkiv to Kherson and from Kherson to Kiev” and to convince them that they “can count on our solidarity and support.”
Bierbok also pledged to provide Ukraine with new aid, such as power generators and blankets, along with “further weapons supplies.” Ukraine, he said, “needs these weapons to liberate its citizens, who are still victims of the terror of the Russian occupation.”
As Ukraine also wants to join the European Union, the German foreign minister offered another kind of support to Kiev.
“As a government, we want to offer Ukraine many other concrete things to meet EU standards, including the rule of law, the independence of institutions and the fight against corruption,” he said.
Ukraine insists on supplying Leopard 2 tanks
This visit of the German Foreign Minister has taken place after Berlin’s decision to supply the Marauder infantry vehicles to Ukraine. Some German politicians have also called on Berlin to go further and supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 main battle tanks. But so far the German government has rejected such a request.
“The longer it takes to make a decision, the more people will die,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kolyba said during a visit to Beerbok, pressing for delivery of the Leopard 2 tanks.
He added, “I have no doubt that Ukraine will get German-made Leopard tanks.” I think the German government also deeply understands that this decision will be made and the tanks will also be transferred to Ukraine.”
This was Bierbok’s third visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded last February. In May, he visited Bucha in Kiev, where civilians were massacred. Last September, he made a second visit to Kiev