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In response to
"Ukraine shoots down Russian attack helicopters, making a dent in Moscow’s fleet."
by
crash davis
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Germany steps up efforts to support Ukraine and patch up relations.
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BERLIN — Germany’s president arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday as Europe’s biggest democracy steps up its efforts to show military and financial support for Ukraine after months of tense relations.
The visit came as German officials opened a one-day conference in Berlin focused on reconstruction for Ukraine, with European leaders promising a “Marshall Plan” for the war-torn nation.
“My message to the Ukrainians is that we are not only standing by your side. We will continue to support Ukraine, economically, politically, and also militarily,” Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, said in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
“It was important to me, especially now in this phase of air attacks with drones, cruise missiles and rockets, to send a message of solidarity,” he added.
Mr. Steinmeier’s visit reflects improving relations between Berlin and Kyiv, Earlier this year, the Ukrainian government rescinded an invitation for him to visit Kyiv because of his previous support for German-Russian business interests, such as the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between Russia and Germany. Russia has since cut most of its gas to Europe through its two Nord Stream pipelines, and Mr. Steinmeier has apologized for supporting those projects.
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has also faced criticism in Ukraine for the slow pace of weapons deliveries and its reluctance to send tanks to help Ukraine fight Russia’s invasion. But German officials say the relationship has markedly improved in the weeks since Berlin sent its new IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine — a weapon not even the German military has received yet.
Mr. Scholz has been looking to increase economic support for Ukraine. The conference in Berlin on Tuesday is billed as a meeting of experts to discuss reconstruction plans.
On Monday, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper published an essay jointly written by Mr. Scholz and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, laying out their vision for Ukraine’s reconstruction, which they called a “generational task that must begin now.”
“Even if one should always be careful with historical comparisons, the issue here is nothing less than creating a new Marshall Plan for the 21st century,” they wrote, referring to the U.S.-financed economic recovery program for Europe after World War II.
Recent Russian targeting of Ukrainian infrastructure, such as power plants, has highlighted the need for such a plan, said Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, the executive director of the Berlin office of the German Marshall Fund, a German-funded policy think tank named in tribute to the U.S. aid program.
Mr. Kleine-Brockhoff called those Russian strikes a “direct attack on reconstruction efforts,” highlighting the need for European leaders to create a plan now, instead of waiting for the war to end. While welcoming the meeting in Berlin, he expressed concerns that the agenda of the meeting provided few concrete proposals or commitments.
Reconstruction costs for Ukraine were estimated at nearly $350 billion in September, according to a World Bank report.
— Erika Solomon
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