Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv on Monday morning, December 9, DW reports.

As Merz stated immediately upon his arrival at the Kyiv railway station, the purpose of his trip is to "find out the current state of defense" in Ukraine. According to him, he is "looking forward" to a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, which will take place during the visit, the message says.

He assured that the CDU/CSU parliamentary faction in the Bundestag "stands firmly" on the side of Ukraine. "We want this terrible war to end as soon as possible and peace to resume in Europe," Merz said.

Merz is a candidate for chancellor of Germany from the conservative Christian Democrat bloc (CDU/CSU), which leads by a wide margin in opinion polls ahead of the Bundestag elections to be held next February.

As reported, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine a week ago.