On the first anniversary of Russia's attack on Ukraine, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier pledged further comprehensive German assistance to the invaded country. Today, including militarily, Germany is its biggest supporter on the European continent, Steinmeier said in Berlin on Friday. "And despite all the controversial, sometimes shrill debates, I am sure that we will continue to be." With a view to what is yet to come, he said: "You can rely on Germany."

If Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin seriously wanted an end to the war, his troops would have to withdraw from Ukraine, Steinmeier said, according to the speech manuscript. "Russia must be unmistakably clear: there can be no victory in its criminal war." Putin wants to win with all his might, but the truth is: "Whoever murders and kills, who destroys Ukraine, destroys cities and kidnaps children, who lets even his own soldiers bleed to death day after day, will never stand as the winner before history, he has already lost!"

Steinmeier expressed scepticism as to whether China could play a constructive role in the efforts to achieve a just peace. "If so, then China should not only talk to Moscow, but also to Kiev. If so, then China should join the overwhelming majority of states and work for peace under the auspices of the United Nations." China had previously called for a ceasefire in the Ukraine war and presented a twelve-point paper.

The Federal President stressed that it was not Western defence aid that was prolonging the war, but rather Russia. "It is not Ukraine or its allies who refuse peace – it is Russia." Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and numerous members of his cabinet took part in the central event marking the start of the war at Bellevue Palace. Bundestag President Bärbel Bas and Bundesrat President Peter Tschentscher (both SPD) were also present.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj thanked the German Government for its support. "Germany is helping us," said Zelenskyj, who was joined after Steinmeier's speech. He also asked to maintain support for his country. "We are able to put an end to Russian aggression as early as this year," Zelenskyi said, according to the translator. And then no one will dare aggression anymore "if he knows that the free world is determined enough to defend freedom."