President Volodymyr Zelensky met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sept. 23 on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Shortly before the meeting, Scholz reaffirmed Berlin's refusal to allow Ukraine to use German weapons to strike targets within Russia.
"Germany will not lift any restrictions," Scholz said in response to queries from reporters regarding long-range strikes in Russia.
"This does not depend on my personal attitude. We will not do that, and we have good reasons for that."
While the U.S. and U.K. face increasing pressure to lift restrictions on Ukraine's use of American ATACMS and British Storm Shadow missiles in Russia, Germany still refuses to supply Kyiv with long-range Taurus missiles.
Scholz said his position would not change even if the U.S. lifts restrictions, and said that Germany aims to "focus on what really helps and what is needed" in terms of supporting Ukraine.
Following Scholz's remarks, Zelensky met with the German chancellor to discusseUkraine's roadmap to peace and plans for a second global peace summit.
"We talked about how to bring a just peace closer. The main thing is to maintain unity," Zelensky said.
The next peace summit will be "a real platform to guarantee the full restoration of security for Ukraine and the whole of Europe," he said.
Zelensky arrived in the U.S. on Sept. 22, kicking off a nearly week-long visit focused on presenting the president's "victory plan" to Ukraine's allies, including U.S. President Joe Biden. Zelensky and Biden will meet at the White House on Sept. 26.
Kateryna Denisova
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