Since Merz became chancellor in May 2025, Germany has become the single largest donor to Ukraine.
He said the country “needs all our support in the coming weeks”, adding: “If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us.”
Zelensky said there would be “important agreements” made between Ukraine and Germany.
The Ukrainian president has made repeated appeals for Western allies to provide more military support to the country, including supplying advanced interceptors that can shoot down new jet-powered Russian drones and also ballistic missiles.
The Russian defence ministry said on Sunday it would intensify its strikes across Ukraine in response to comments made by Zelensky earlier this week, in which he said Kyiv would ramp up its attacks on Russian oil refineries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had earlier said his military was carrying out retaliatory attacks following Ukraine’s strikes on Moscow’s energy facilities, despite the fact that it was the Kremlin that had first launched such attacks.
Putin began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and Moscow currently controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory.
The Russian foreign ministry on Saturday repeated a warning for foreign citizens, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv.
Responding to the warning, EU ambassador Katarína Mathernová wrote on X on Sunday: “The EU Delegation is staying. Threatening us will not stop Europe’s support for Ukraine. It only reminds us why that support matters!”
German ambassador to Ukraine, Boris Ruge, reacted to Mathernova’s post with: “Amen – we’re staying”.
