Ukraine and Germany discuss strengthening Ukrainian air defence

Minister of Defence of Ukraine Evgeniy Khmara met with Federal Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz.

The Minister of Defence spoke about the situation on the battlefield, Russia’s mobilisation plans and the challenges Ukraine faces today. In particular, the discussion covered jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles.

They also discussed the needs of the front and which solutions are important to scale up. A separate focus was strengthening Ukrainian air defence and mobilising partners’ efforts on this issue. Evgeniy Khmara handed Friedrich Merz a list of the weapons the Defence Forces need, including munitions for F-16s and missiles for IRIS-T and Patriot.

The Minister of Defence thanked the German Chancellor for Germany’s consistent and sustained support for Ukraine. In 2026 alone, the assistance amounts to EUR 11.5 billion, which is about a third of all military assistance this year and the largest contribution to Ukraine’s defence among all partner countries.

Evgeniy Khmara also took part in the Ukrainian-German Business Forum, which focused on how to move from individual projects to a joint Ukrainian-German scale-up programme and, from there, to systematic joint production.

Following the forum, the Minister of Defence of Ukraine signed five documents with German defence companies. Implementing them will enable Ukraine to procure missiles, precision-guided munitions, radars and other weapons.