Zelenskyy meets Merz in Berlin as Ukraine seeks more support from Germany against Russia

BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Tuesday in Berlin with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose country is one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters, as Kyiv battles to defeat Russia’s all-out invasion, now in its fifth year.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was also holding talks with his counterpart, Mykhailo Fedorov, the former Ukrainian digital transformation chief who took up his new post in January and is credited with advancing military drone technology.

U.S.-led efforts to end Russia’s war on Ukraine have recently petered out as the Iran war grips the Trump administration’s attention, although Tammy Bruce, the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that Washington “will continue to push for a negotiated and durable end” to the war.

Western analysts and officials say Ukraine has in recent months recorded battlefield successes against Russia’s bigger army, disrupting a spring offensive started by Russia amid improving weather, as fields dry out and new foliage on tree lines offers more cover.

Meanwhile, the long-range drones and missiles that Kyiv designs and produces are repeatedly striking oil facilities and manufacturing plants deep inside Russia.

Ukraine “is in a much better place than it has been at any stage in this horrific war,” Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Monday.

Ukraine “is on top from a military perspective,” Stubb claimed, noting that last month Ukraine fired more drones and missiles at Russia than Russia launched at Ukraine.

Moscow has also claimed progress on the battlefield. Independent verification of each side’s claims was not possible.

Russia occupies about 20% of Ukraine. That includes the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized in 2014.

Ukraine is desperately short of cash and needs a promised 90-billion-euro ($106 billion) loan from the European Union. That was being held up by Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, but his departure as prime minister after weekend elections could free up the sum.

Kyiv is also heavily reliant on U.S. intelligence for targeting inside Russia and needs more sophisticated American-made air defense systems to stop Russian missile attacks on its power grid. If the Iran war drags on, it could erode vital U.S. support for Kyiv, Zelenskyy fears.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian army is short-handed, facing some 200,000 troop desertions and draft-dodging by around 2 million people, Fedorov, the defense minister, said in January.

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