The Presidents of Germany and Ukraine have called for the rapid formation of bilateral city partnerships to help Ukrainian municipalities through the winter.

During a visit to Kyiv, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier met the Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky, after there had been a diplomatic rift between them in the spring.

Zelenskyy thanked Germany for supporting his country attacked by Russia.

In this way, the Federal Republic is contributing to peace in Ukraine.

This is "big and historically important," he said on Tuesday.

“My message to the Ukrainians is: We are not just on your side.

We will continue to support Ukraine - economically, politically and militarily," said Steinmeier upon arrival.

Like other international guests, he came to Kyiv by train at night without any public announcement.

Patronage for town twinning

At an appointment outside the capital, Steinmeier experienced the same thing as millions of Ukrainians are doing at the moment: because an air alarm was triggered in Koryukivka near the border with Belarus, he had to go to a bunker.

There he heard from Mayor Ratan Akhmedov and residents of the small town what they had to endure in eight months of war.

"That gave us a particularly impressive understanding of the conditions under which people live here," said the Federal President.

The air alert was a situation that could not be ruled out during the visit.

The people there would have to live with something like that every day.

Steinmeier and Selenskyj said they wanted to take over the patronage of a German-Ukrainian town twinning scheme.

“Municipal partnerships offer a basis for lived solidarity in the face of war;

they lay the foundation for a common future,” it said in a statement.

"They are sending a clear signal to Moscow: Your war will not divide us - it will bring us even closer together as Germans, Ukrainians and as Europeans."

There are currently more than 100 town twinnings with the Ukraine, but they are maintained to varying degrees.

34 were re-knotted after the war began.

In recent days, Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine's infrastructure with missiles and drones, damaging electricity and heat supplies.

Kyiv was also attacked.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko showed Steinmeier a destroyed house.

Many Ukrainians face a freezing, dark winter if the infrastructure is not repaired.

It was Steinmeier's third attempt to travel to the Ukraine.

Last week it was postponed at short notice for security reasons.

In mid-April he had to cancel a joint trip with the presidents of Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at the last minute.

At the time, Kyiv signaled to Steinmeier that he was not welcome.

The former SPD foreign minister was criticized for his pro-Russian policies in Ukraine.

He had ignored Eastern European warnings about Germany's dependence on Russian energy supplies.

The discharge was seen in Berlin as an unprecedented diplomatic and political affront.

The situation only eased again after a telephone conversation between the presidents in early May.