ISTANBUL
In a show of support for Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Tuesday arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit.
Baerbock’s arrival was reported by local media and later confirmed by a statement from the German Foreign Office, which noted the visit to be her eighth since the launch of Russia’s “special military operation” in February 2022.
“Russian rocket terror, constant air alerts, permanent power outages, hardly any water: the situation in Ukraine has once again escalated dramatically with the massive Russian air strikes on the civilian infrastructure and the brutal Russian offensive in Kharkiv,” Baerbock was quoted as saying following her arrival.
Expressing that Ukraine urgently needs more air defense to protect the country from Russian missiles and drone attacks, Baerbock said she launched a global initiative for more air defense together with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
She said almost €1 billion ($1.1 billion) have been raised to provide additional support for Ukraine’s air defense, indicating they have “led the way” with an additional Patriot unit.
“We must now join forces so that Ukraine can survive, so that Ukrainians can continue to live self-determined lives in the future. And so that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s troops don’t soon find themselves at our own borders,” the foreign minister added.
