Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Kyiv and held talks on the development of bilateral relations, expanding the coalition in support of the Peace Formula, new ways for grain export, and additional weapons, including strengthening air defense and transferring long-range Taurus missiles.

"We discussed in detail the provision of German long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine. Today we have a better understanding of the process of making the final decision by the German government. For its part, Ukraine is ready to do everything necessary to speed it up. Following the talks, I can say that the option of providing these missiles remains open, and the decision-making process within Germany is moving forward," he said.

Dmytro Kuleba expressed his gratitude to the German side for the strong defense support provided by the German government to Ukraine, in particular in creating an air shield and strengthening the tank power of our army. He particularly noted the effectiveness of German "Gepard" systems, which have demonstrated good results in protecting Ukrainian cities and towns from Russian terror and saved many lives.

The Minister emphasized that the talks focused on additional strengthening of Ukraine's air defense in anticipation of the new winter season and possible attacks against the energy system by the terrorist state of Russia.

The parties also discussed the promotion of Ukrainian grain exports, preparations for the International Food Security Summit, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's humanitarian program Grain From Ukraine, and the German support for Ukraine on its path to the EU membership.

"We also discussed in detail the participation of Germany and German companies in the first Defense Industry Forum to be held in Ukraine in the near future. The German government and defense companies have shown a high interest in this event and will take an active part in it," emphasized Dmytro Kuleba.

The Ministers emphasized the agreement to work together to return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia to Ukraine. Dmytro Kuleba expressed his personal gratitude to Annalena Baerbock for her efforts in returning Ukrainian children from Russian captivity.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister also said that tomorrow Ukraine and Germany would hold another round of political consultations at the deputy ministers level to discuss the full range of topics on bilateral agenda.