The day before, on October 23, on the sidelines of a meeting of the EU Council, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky held a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the OP reported.
A German official told Politico that Merz and Zelensky, among other things, discussed “the situation in Washington and the US plans that are now on the table.”
He added that Zelensky addressed the chancellor with “special requests” to help Ukraine strengthen its “defense potential.”
Merz made a statement after the summit that Germany would consider a proposal on how German technology could help protect Ukraine's energy and water infrastructure.
The German official did not say what exactly Zelensky asked Merz to do.
At the same time, the President of Ukraine, after the meeting, wrote in X that during the negotiations they “specially focused on decisions that could further strengthen the air defense.”
“Thank you to Germany for its significant contribution to the protection of Ukrainian lives and its willingness to continue to help,” Zelensky said.
Cooperation with Federal Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz. They talked about how to strengthen our anti-anti-terrorist defense, but they fell in line with the close coalition of the willing in London.
Informing about the legacy of Russian attacks on our energy infrastructure, they… pic.twitter.com/pyLZVkIZCG
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Volodymyr Zelenskyy (@ZelenskyyUa) October 23, 2025
Context
After the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, which began on February 24, 2022, Germany provides military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
Germany is the second largest donor country to Ukraine after the United States. According to German government, in 2022 Germany transferred arms worth over €2 billion to Ukraine, in 2023 – €5.4 billion. After April 17, 2025, the German government does not publish data on military assistance to Kyiv.
Ukraine, in particular, received anti-tank weapons, self-propelled howitzers, Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, air defense systems, Patriot air defense system, MLRS, Leopard tanks and other weapons.
