New German Foreign Minister Wadephul arrives in Kyiv

The newly appointed German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul arrived in Kyiv on Monday, June 30, on an official visit.

He announced this on his page on the X social network, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"Good morning from Ukraine," he wrote.

Deutsche Welle writes that Wadephul, upon arriving in Kyiv, stated that russian leader vladimir putin seeks to conquer Ukraine by force, but Ukrainians are demonstrating incredible courage in defending their country.

"Putin seeks to prevent Ukraine from determining its own destiny by force. His war aims at nothing more than the subjugation of Ukraine. He attacks Ukrainians with the brutal terror of bombing. Every day and every night, people die in their own homes - in Kyiv, in Odesa, in Dnipro. But despite all the destruction and all the terror, Ukrainians every day again and again resolutely defend their country, their freedom and their future. They demonstrate incredible courage, strength and endurance. This deserves our highest respect," the Foreign Minister said.

He also assured of Germany's continued support for Ukraine.

"Our support for Ukraine's freedom is a testament to our steadfastness as Europeans. Russia hopes that we will weaken our assistance... We will continue to stand firmly by Ukraine's side so that it can successfully defend itself - with the help of modern air defense systems and other weapons, humanitarian and economic aid. With this commitment, I came to Kyiv today," the German Foreign Minister added.

According to Wadephul, it is in Ukraine that it is now decided "whether our Europe will remain a place where freedom and human dignity are valued - or whether it will become a continent where violence changes borders."

"Ukrainians are defending not only the freedom and sovereignty of their country, but also the security and freedom of Europe from putin's aggression. That is why we will continue to focus all our efforts on supporting Ukraine. The freedom and future of Ukraine is the most important task of our foreign and security policy," he assured.

The Minister also stressed the seriousness of Ukraine's intentions to end the war and recalled the importance of sanctions against russia.

"Ukraine has repeatedly proven that it is ready to end this war through serious negotiations. In return, putin is not backing down from any of his maximalist demands - he does not want negotiations, he wants capitulation. And while this is the case, we will continue to limit putin's ability to finance this criminal war through sanctions. We are working intensively on this within the European Union and together with our G7 partners," he stressed.

In addition, Wadephul noted that putin's current actions should serve as a "serious warning" to Germany.

"The ideology of imperialism that drives putin is the greatest threat to our security in Germany and Europe. The determination of NATO partners to invest 5 percent (of gross domestic product) in defense and security in the future clearly demonstrates that we, as allies, are ready to constantly defend our freedom and security," he concluded.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on June 12, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius visited Ukraine.