Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Germany for its support during a meeting with his counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday in his first visit to the country since the Russian invasion, Reuters reported.

Zelensky arrived in Berlin from Rome, where he met with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Maloni and Pope Francis on Saturday. The Pope said that the Vatican will help repatriate Ukrainian children taken by the Russians.

He flew in a German government plane escorted over German airspace by Luftwaffe fighters, arriving at midnight.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, wearing signature khaki pants and a black sweater, greeted the Ukrainian leader with military honors before heading to his office to meet with Scholz.

“In the most difficult period of the modern history of Ukraine, Germany is proud to be our true friend and reliable ally,” Zelensky wrote in the guest book of the German presidency. “Together we will overcome and restore peace in Europe.”

Zelensky also met with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his security cabinet before traveling to Aachen in western Germany to receive the prestigious Charlemagne Award for services to Europe.

Berlin’s government district was paralyzed early Sunday morning by heightened security during his visit, with public transport suspended, helicopters circling the area and snipers on rooftops.

A new military aid package

Germany, Europe’s largest economy, faced criticism early in the war for what some called a hesitant response, but has become one of Ukraine’s biggest providers of financial and military aid.

On Saturday, the government announced 2.7 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine, the largest such package since Russia invaded last February, and pledged additional support to Kyiv as needed.

The package includes 30 German Leopard tanks, as well as combat vehicles, reconnaissance drones and four Iris-T air defense systems, which are considered key to preventing Russian missiles from hitting Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure.

Zelenskyy hailed the “powerful package” on Twitter, saying he intended to discuss arms supplies with German officials, as well as air defense, reconstruction, Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union and security.

Zelensky last visited Germany to participate in the Security Council in Munich in February of last year, just before the start of the war.

Germany was constrained in its support for Ukraine at the time by both its energy dependence on Russia and the pacifism rooted in its bloody 20th-century history.

This required a major upheaval in policy and a change in mentality that Scholz called the “Zeitenwende,” or epochal change, in a landmark speech just days after the war began.

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