(AFP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky voiced hope Friday that the war with Russia will end next year, speaking during a visit to Berlin to ask for sustained military support.
As Ukraine faces a gruelling third winter at war, Zelensky has been seeking support on a two-day whirlwind tour of European capitals that took him to London, Paris and Rome.
Visiting Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelensky, dressed in his trademark military clothes, thanked Germany for its backing and said that “it is very important for us that this assistance does not decrease next year”.
He said he would present Scholz with his plan for winning the war, voicing hope that the conflict would end “no later than next year, 2025”.
“Ukraine more than anyone else in the world wants a fair and speedy end to this war,” Zelensky said. “The war is destroying our country, taking the lives of our people.”
Scholz pledged Germany and EU partners would send more defence equipment this year, and German aid worth four billion euros in 2025, vowing that “we will not let up in our support for Ukraine”.
Scholz said he and the Ukrainian leader agreed on the need for a peace conference that includes Russia, but that a peace “can only be brought about on the basis of international law”.
“We will not accept a peace dictated by Russia,” Scholz said.
Zelensky later wrapped up his tour by meeting German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The Ukrainian leader has been seeking fresh military and financial aid from his European allies amid fears of dwindling support if Donald Trump wins the US presidency next month.
A scheduled Ukraine defence meeting Saturday at the Ramstein US air base in western Germany was postponed after US President Joe Biden called off a state visit to Germany because of Hurricane Milton.
Germany has been Ukraine’s biggest military aid supplier after the United States.
However, Scholz has rejected sending the German long-range Taurus missile system, fearing an escalation of NATO’s tense standoff with nuclear-armed Russia.
Zelensky had started the day at the Vatican for talks with the 87-year-old leader of the world’s almost 1.4 billion Catholics — his second private audience with Pope Francis since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Francis has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and regularly prays for its “martyred” people, but he sparked outrage in Kyiv earlier this year after giving an interview in which he urged Ukrainians to “raise the white flag and negotiate”.
In a post on social media Friday, Zelensky said his talks with the pope had focused on the “incredibly painful” question of people captured and deported from Ukraine to Russia, saying he hoped the Holy See could help.
The Vatican said Zelensky had discussed during the visit “the state of the war and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine” and ways to reach a “just and stable peace”.
In Paris on Thursday, Zelensky held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, after which he denied media reports that he was discussing the terms of a ceasefire with Russia.
“This is not the topic of our discussions,” he told the press. “It’s not right. Russia works a lot with media disinformation.”
Zelensky has rejected any peace plan that involves ceding land to Russia, arguing Moscow must first withdraw all troops from Ukrainian territory.
Russian forces have made advances across the eastern frontline and targeted the power grid as Ukraine faces its toughest winter since the full-scale Russian invasion started in February 2022.
Russia said Friday its forces had captured the frontline villages of Zhelanne Druge and Ostrivske, the latest in a string of territorial gains for Moscow.
Russian strikes overnight on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa killed four people, including a teenage girl, and wounded 10 more, according to the regional governor.
Zelensky has pushed for clearance to use long-range weapons supplied by allies, including British Storm Shadow missiles, to strike military targets deep inside Russia.
Washington and London have stalled on giving approval over fears it could draw NATO allies into direct conflict with Russia.
In Germany, Scholz’s refusal to deliver Taurus missiles is controversial, even within his own three-party coalition with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
“We must supply Ukraine with significantly more air defence, ammunition and long-range weapons,” the Greens’ European MP Anton Hofreiter told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
“Restrictions on the range of weapons supplied do not contribute to de-escalation but rather enable further Russian attacks.”
The FDP’s defence expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann told the same newspaper: “I very much hope that Zelensky will make it clear to the Chancellor once again that if Ukraine loses this war, this will not be the last war in Europe.”