Germany has provided 17 billion euros in support to Ukraine since the start of its special operation

Berlin, May 14 – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a joint press conference with Volodymyr Zelensky that in just over a year, German support to Ukraine totaled 17 billion euros.

According to him, since the beginning of the armed conflict, “only bilateral support (not taking into account Berlin’s share in the joint packages of countries – ed.) to Ukraine amounted to 17 billion euros.” “We created the conditions for providing this assistance in subsequent years,” said Schultz. The event was broadcast on the German government’s website.

Zelensky also confirmed the scale of the support, reporting 11 billion euros overall, and the military and humanitarian aid that Berlin has provided since the beginning of the year.

Earlier, Zelensky arrived in the German capital and was received by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at his residence in Bellevue, after which he went to the chancellor’s office to negotiate with Schultz.

On the eve of Zelensky’s arrival, the German government approved a military support package for Kiev worth €2.7 billion.

Russia has previously sent a memorandum to NATO countries over the supply of weapons to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has indicated that any shipment containing weapons to Ukraine would become a legitimate target for Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that NATO countries were “playing with fire” by supplying arms to Ukraine. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, noted that the injection of weapons into Ukraine from the West does not contribute to the success of the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations and will have a negative impact. Lavrov stated that the United States and NATO are directly involved in the conflict in Ukraine, “including not only the supply of weapons, but also the training of personnel … on the territory of Great Britain, Germany, Italy and other countries.”