Berlin
Ukraine PM visits Berlin, seeking more weapons
Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmygal on Sunday voiced hopes that Germany would become a leading player helping Kyiv to build up its air defences, as he sought more heavy weapons for Kyiv from Berlin.
Shmygal is the first high-level Ukrainian official to visit Germany in months, in a sign of eased tensions between Kyiv and Berli after a rocky patch.
Germany’s initial stuttering response on providing military support to Kyiv following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had sparked consternation.
But Shmygal acknowledged during his visit that Germany has since significantly stepped up its military aid, with heavy armaments such as the tank howitzer 2000 or MARS rocket launchers all “working well on the battle field”.
The air defence system Iris-T is expected to be delivered in the autumn, he said, adding that Ukraine “hopes that Germany will become one of the leaders in the process of developing Ukrainian air defense”
