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 also serves as economy minister, is accompanied by a business delegation. The trip comes as Germany prepares to put on the next Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on June 11 and 12. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are jointly hosting the international meeting.
Habeck said upon arrival that the visit was taking place at a time when Ukraine needed all the support it could get in its "fight for freedom."
"Yes, Ukraine is fighting for its own self-determination, for its territorial integrity against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's aggression, but is also fighting for the values that unite and characterize Europe," he said.
In Kiev, Habeck will meet Zelensky, Deputy Prime Minister and Economics Minister Yulia Svyrydenko and Energy Minister German Galushchenko, among others.
Habeck will then travel on to Moldova to with Prime Minister Dorin Recean. The pro-Western leadership of the country, which is striving to join the EU, sees Moldova, which borders on Ukraine, as threatened by Moscow.
