Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Merkel in Ukraine for talks as Kiev ramps up pressure on Russia over Crimea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel attend a joint news conference following their talks at the Mariinsky palace in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, August 22, 2021

UKRAINE hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel today for talks ahead of official celebrations tomorrow marking 30 years since its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union.

Ms Merkel travelled to Kiev from Moscow, where she held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Germany is seeking assurances that Russia will continue to pipe gas through Ukraine to the European Union. 

But the visit is seen in Kiev as an opportunity to highlight unity with the EU against Russia, with the Volodymyr Zelensky government calling a conference on the reconquest of Crimea ahead of tomorrow’s anniversary.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey
Features / 19 July 2025
19 July 2025

Ben Chacko talks to RMT leader EDDIE DEMPSEY about how the key to fixing broken Britain lies in collective sectoral bargaining, restoring unions’ ability to take solidarity strike action and bringing about the much-vaunted ‘wave of insourcing’

Neil Terry
Durham Miners’ Gala 2025 / 13 July 2025
13 July 2025
Similar stories
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service on
World / 19 March 2025
19 March 2025
DOOMED: William Simpson’s depiction of the Charge of the L
Books / 16 October 2024
16 October 2024
JOHN GREEN recommends a history of the Black Sea peninsula, situated at a crossroads between Europe and Asia
A couple sit in front of their house destroyed by a Russian
World / 29 August 2024
29 August 2024
EU's top diplomat calls on Ukraine's Western allies to allow their weapons to be used inside Russia