Germany's Defense Minister Pistorius makes surprise visit to Kyiv
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius came to Kyiv with an unannounced visit, reported a Bild correspondent.
Pistorius arrived by train to Kyiv at 5 a.m. This is his second visit to Kyiv as the Federal Minister of Defense.
#EIL
Um exakt 5:00 Uhr Ortszeit ist Bundesverteidigungsminister Boris #Pistorius heute Morgen zu seinem zweiten Amtsbesuch in Kiev eingetroffen. @BILD pic.twitter.com/NjtpT0gr81
The purpose of the visit is to reaffirm Berlin's support for Ukraine, its main topics will be the training of soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and military assistance to Kyiv, the German Ministry of Defense reported.
Pistorius's talks with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are scheduled for the afternoon, Deutsche Welle reports.
On November 14, Pistorius opposed the introduction of a "military economy" in Europe. He is convinced that the military economy in the EU will not lead to a sharp increase in the production of ammunition and will not cover the needs, since technological processes cannot be accelerated.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the reason for refusing to hand over Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine is "constitutional restrictions and the risk of war escalation".
Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba commented on Germany's refusal to provide Taurus missiles: "We will turn a blind eye to this if we receive air defense."