Speech by Foreign Minister Wadephul at the German-Ukrainian Municipal Partnership Conference 2026: “Friends stand together”

Reem, my good friend and fellow Minister, I would like to tell you today about an encounter that greatly moved me. Like you, Reem, and the Federal Chancellor, I travelled to Ukraine during the summer, where I was able to keep a promise that I had made during my first visit to Kyiv. Back then, Russian missiles had just hit a residential area, and my delegation and I viewed the ruins and spoke with people whose houses and apartments had been destroyed. These people included the family of a locally employed colleague from the German Embassy in Kyiv, who does important work for us there. Her husband is at the front. We stood together in the ruins of her living room and I told her that I would come back to Kyiv. And when I came, it would be with a cake for us to enjoy together in her living room, as it would be rebuilt by then with the help of many colleagues from our Embassy, among others. This summer, we were finally able to meet again. We sat on her sofa. We hugged each other. We felt happy. We enjoyed coffee and cake. And she said something to me that I would like to share with you here today: And that’s true. These words could basically be the unofficial motto of this confe...