Merkel assures help for Ukraine to solve Donbas conflicts
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3rd R) delivers a speech after a training demonstration during her visit to NATO's Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) in Munster, Germany, on May 20, 2019. Merkel on Monday assured Germany's help for Ukraine to solve the conflicts in its Donbas region. She made the statement during her visit to a rapid reaction force of NATO in Germany's Munster. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R, Front) talks with members of NATO'S Very High Readiness Joint Task Force during her visit in Munster, Germany, on May 20, 2019. Merkel on Monday assured Germany's help for Ukraine to solve the conflicts in its Donbas region. She made the statement during her visit to a rapid reaction force of NATO in Germany's Munster. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday assured Germany's help for Ukraine to solve the conflicts in its Donbas region.
Merkel made the statement during her visit to a rapid reaction force of NATO in Germany's Munster.
The army unit, consists of soldiers of Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, was founded in 2014 after an escalation of clashes in Ukraine's east.
After a training demonstration of the troop, Merkel said Germany is working together with France within the framework of the Minsk agreement to support Ukraine, and will help to put an end to the hostilities in the eastern region of Donbas.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (2nd R, Front) looks at equipment of NATO'S Very High Readiness Joint Task Force during her visit in Munster, Germany, on May 20, 2019. Merkel on Monday assured Germany's help for Ukraine to solve the conflicts in its Donbas region. She made the statement during her visit to a rapid reaction force of NATO in Germany's Munster. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
The Minsk agreement was designed to peacefully end the conflict in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, which has been plagued by clashes between Ukrainian government troops and pro-independence armed groups since April 2014.
Merkel added that the new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is taking office in Kiev on Monday and Zelensky's top goal is also to solve the conflicts there.
Merkel also reiterated that the German government will increase its defense budget, as NATO requires "fast response time and excellent equipment."
"I am deeply convinced that all political efforts are only effective if we showed we are ready to defend ourselves," Merkel said.