German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attends a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, as a part of a NATO Defence Ministers' meeting at the Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium 4 June 2025;
Credit: Reuters/Yves Herman/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has arrived in Kyiv to discuss military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, the DPA news agency reported on Thursday 12 June 2025.
Pistorius plans to hold talks with Ukrainian government representatives about further weapons aid from Berlin, according to the report.
"We are doing everything we can to support Ukraine so that it can defend itself and get into a position where Russia is prepared to enter into serious negotiations," Pistorius said ahead of his departure.
The German defence ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Germany is Ukraine's second-biggest military backer after the United States, whose commitment to Kyiv has been called into question, putting pressure on Europe to step up.
Russia and Ukraine met for peace talks in Istanbul earlier this month in a renewed push to settle the conflict, which began with Russia's invasion in February 2022.
However, fighting has raged on while the two sides disagree over a number of central issues, such as territorial concessions and the prospect of Ukraine's future NATO membership.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who has already travelled to Kyiv and hosted President Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin since taking office in May 2025, recently gave Ukraine the green light for "long-range fire" with weapons supplied by Germany and others, angering Moscow.
