German Foreign Minister Makes Unannounced Visit to Kharkiv

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has made an unannounced visit to Kharkiv, as reported by Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. 'Today, Annalena Baerbock and I were in Kharkiv, which has suffered greatly because of Russia. Kharkiv has become a symbol of Ukraine's successful counterattacks, demonstrating that with sufficient support from partners, Ukraine will triumph. I have no doubt that Germany's military assistance will continue to arrive,' Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

According to Russian media, during her visit to Kharkiv, Kuleba explained to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock the necessity of providing German Leopard heavy battle tanks to Kyiv. The negotiations lasted three hours on the way. Over the past few months, Ukraine has been demanding the supply of German Leopard 2 battle tanks from Berlin, but German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has repeatedly stated that Germany will act only in coordination with its allies.

On December 25, results from a survey conducted by the YouGov sociological institute for the DPA agency were published, indicating that 45% of Germans oppose supplying these tanks to Kyiv.