• Pact includes anti-jet drones, air defence support, help for Ukraine’s energy sector
• Russia strikes key Kyiv bridge just as German chancellor arrives
KYIV: Ukraine and Germany signed a $1.5-billion weapons deal on Sunday to help counter a surge in Russian drone attacks.
The agreement includes combat drones and support for Ukraine’s battered energy sector, which Russia is targeting to cut off heating and power during the freezing winter months, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on X.
The agreement came as Russia struck a key bridge in Kyiv earlier in the day, just as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in the Ukrainian capital to meet Zelensky.
The latest deal provides for the joint production of anti-jet drones, Merz told a joint news conference with Zelensky.
Ukraine has repeatedly called for advanced interceptors to shoot down Russia’s new fast-moving, jet-powered drones and powerful ballistic missiles.
“Significant technical breakthroughs have already been achieved in this area in recent weeks,” he added.
“Production is now being ramped up. This strengthens Ukrainian air defence quickly and significantly. We are supplying standoff weapons, combat drones and satellite technology so that Ukraine can also target Russian launch sites,” he added.
Merz, on a surprise visit to show European support as attacks increase, witnessed the new reality of daily life in the Ukrainian capital.
Air raid sirens wailed repeatedly, including as Zelensky showed him the damage to the National Academy of Sciences, which was hit by a Russian attack drone on Monday, killing two people.
“We can see the entire pointlessness of this war at this place,” Merz said.
“These barbarous attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine must stop. These are war crimes that are being committed daily here.”
The strike that hit the Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River on Sunday also damaged a road and the supply of hot water in the area, according to a social media statement from Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
As he arrived, Merz said support for Ukraine was vital for European security.
“If Russia is not stopped, its war machine will sooner or later turn against us,” he said.
Confirming the attack on the bridge over the Dnipro River, the Russian Defence Ministry also said it had hit two dry cargo vessels carrying military equipment to the port of Odesa in the northwestern Black Sea.
‘Technical level’ talks
However, Zelensky said the US was proposing “technical level” talks with both sides by the end of this month, possibly including UAE mediators.
“The American side is currently in contact with Ukraine and Russia and is proposing to somehow hold a meeting at the technical level in a trilateral format by the end of October,” Mr Zelensky told reporters.
He said he had spoken with American negotiators on Saturday.
“I confirmed to them that our side is ready to support this timeline,” he added.
Zelensky did not say where the talks would take place but said Ukraine was “open to the Emirates or another country proposed by the American side”.
Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2026
