Germany’s Economy Minister Leads Major Kyiv Visit to Fortify Energy and Defense Links

Germany’s Economy Minister Katherina Reiche arrived in Kyiv on October 24 to discuss measures to strengthen Ukraine’s energy resilience and deepen defense-industry cooperation amid intensified Russian strikes on the country’s infrastructure. This was reported by Reuters on the same day.

“Ukraine is facing its fourth winter at war, and right now Russia has intensified its attacks on Ukraine’s energy supply, massively endangering electricity and heat provision in the winter,” Reiche said upon arrival. She noted that Berlin aims to find “more concrete and better support” to help Ukraine rebuild and secure its damaged power grid.

The German delegation includes business leaders from the energy and defense sectors. Reiche emphasized that the mission seeks to connect German and Ukrainian companies for joint projects in both fields.

“Security policy is always also economic policy,” she said, underscoring Berlin’s intention to integrate industrial cooperation into its broader assistance framework.

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The visit comes as Ukraine’s Western allies convene in London for a Coalition of the Willing summit to coordinate additional military support. On the previous day, European Union leaders in Brussels agreed in principle to provide €140 billion (about $163 billion) in aid over the next two years, potentially funded by profits from frozen Russian assets.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian officials announced plans to increase natural-gas imports by 30 percent following repeated Russian attacks on gas facilities and power transmission systems. According to energy analysts, Kyiv’s cooperation with European partners like Germany will be key to stabilizing supply and maintaining critical infrastructure through the coming winter.

Reiche’s visit marks one of the most senior German economic missions to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, signaling Berlin’s growing intent to align post-war reconstruction with European defense-industry partnerships.

Earlier, it was reported that the European Union and Germany announced an additional about $19 million package to support Ukraine’s energy recovery through the Energy Efficiency Fund.

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