German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has pledged additional military support worth $680m to Ukraine in an unannounced visit to Kyiv after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sought security guarantees from NATO to defend itself amid steady Russian advances.

In a statement announcing his visit on Monday, Scholz said the military aid will be delivered this month, amid Ukraine’s renewed effort to defend its territory, about 20 percent of which has been occupied by Russia.

The visit, his second since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, comes amid uncertainty before President-elect Donald Trump takes the reins at the White House and as Russian forces make territorial gains.

“I travelled to Kyiv tonight: by train through a country that has been defending itself against the Russian war of aggression for over 1,000 days,” Scholz said in a post on X.

“I would like to make it clear here on the ground that Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe.

“Ukraine can rely on Germany – we say what we do. And we do what we say.”

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During his visit, Scholz will hold talks with Zelenskyy, who is set to push NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance at a meeting in Brussels this week.

Chinese-made drones

Zelenskyy had recently criticised Scholz after the German leader held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ways to end the war. The Ukrainian leader had said the move would open a “Pandora’s box” by weakening Putin’s international isolation.

Scholz’s visit also comes as he faces a tough battle for re-election at a snap vote in February after his coalition collapsed in November.

His record of supporting Ukraine has been under scrutiny both from those who wanted him to do more to help Kyiv and, on the other side, those voters who want Germany to pull back from sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Putin is dragging Asia into the war in Ukraine with the use of Chinese-made drones and the deployment of North Korean troops.

“Drones from Chinese factories and North Korean troops attacking peace in the centre of Europe violate our core European security interests,” Baerbock said after meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing.

Amid the continuing military advance by Russia into Ukraine, Zelenskyy said Ukraine must find diplomatic solutions to retake some of its occupied territory.

He said such steps could be considered “only when we know that we are strong enough”, he said in an interview with the Japanese news agency Kyodo published on Monday.

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Zelenskyy also said Trump and his team were studying the Ukrainian “victory plan” and expected additional talks with them to explain “certain things in more detail”, according to the report.

Russia’s drone attack

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s air force reported that Russia launched 110 drones into the country overnight. One of the drones hit a residential building in the western city of Ternopil, killing one person and injuring several others.

Of the 110 drones, the air force shot down 52 and 50 were “lost”, likely due to electronic warfare, it said.

One drone remained in Ukrainian airspace and six of the drones headed towards Belarus and Russia, the air force added.