German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck arrived in Kiev on Thursday for a visit focused on Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, emergency aid and strengthening the country’s economy.
Habeck, who is also Minister of Economic Affairs, is accompanied by a business delegation. The trip comes as Germany prepares for the next Ukraine recovery conference in Berlin on June 11 and 12. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are co-hosting the international meeting.
Habeck said upon arrival that the visit took place at a time when Ukraine needed all the support it could get in its “struggle for freedom.”
“Yes, Ukraine is fighting for its own self-determination, for its territorial integrity [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s aggression, but also fights for the values ​​that unite and characterize Europe,” he said.
In Kiev, Habeck will meet, among others, Zelensky, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko and Energy Minister, the German Galushchenko.
Habeck then travels to Moldova, where he stays with Prime Minister Dorin Recean. The country’s pro-Western leadership, which aims to join the EU, sees Moldova, which borders Ukraine, as threatened by Moscow.
