Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Germany for its help as he met with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday in his first go to to the nation since Russia’s invasion.

Zelenskyy arrived in Berlin from Rome, the place he met individually on Saturday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pope Francis. The pope indicated that the Vatican would assist in the repatriation of Ukrainian kids taken by Russians.

He flew on a German authorities aircraft escorted over German airspace by fighter jets of the Luftwaffe air drive, arriving in the course of the evening.

“In probably the most difficult time within the fashionable historical past of Ukraine, Germany proud to be our true buddy and dependable ally,” Zelenskyy wrote within the visitor e book of the German presidency. “Collectively we are going to win and produce peace again to Europe.”

Zelenskyy was anticipated to satisfy later with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his safety cupboard earlier than heading to Aachen in west Germany to obtain the distinguished Charlemagne prize in honour of companies to Europe.

Germany, which is Europe’s largest financial system, confronted criticism in the beginning of the struggle for what some referred to as a hesitant response, however it has change into certainly one of Ukraine’s greatest suppliers of economic and navy help.

The federal government introduced 2.7 billion euro ($3 billion) of navy assist to Ukraine on Saturday, its greatest such bundle but since Russia’s invasion in February final yr, and pledged additional help for Kyiv for so long as crucial.

Zelenskyy hailed this as a “highly effective bundle” in a tweet, indicating that he aimed to debate weapons provide in addition to air defence, reconstruction, Ukraine’s candidacy for membership of the European Union and safety with German officers.

Zelenskyy final visited Germany for the Munich Safety Council in February final yr simply earlier than the struggle broke out.

Germany was constrained in its help for Ukraine at the moment each by its power dependence on Russia and a pacifism rooted in its bloody twentieth century historical past.

This required a significant coverage upheaval and a shift in mindset that Scholz dubbed a “Zeitenwende” or flip of period, in a landmark speech simply days after the struggle broke out.