German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived in Ukraine on Tuesday for a surprise visit, his first since Russian invaded the country on February 24, Reuters reported. Steinmeier’s visit comes a day after he accepted the credentials of Ukraine’s new Ambassador to Berlin, Oleksiy Makeev. The German President will meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. In April, Zelensky refused to meet Steinmeier because of his policy as Foreign Minister under Chancellor Angela Merkel. Steinmeier’s visit comes after Germany stepped up military assistance to Kyiv.

Today, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in his given capacity as German Presidency of the G7, will co-host the International Expert Conference on the Recovery, Reconstruction and Modernization of Ukraine in Berlin. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a keynote address.

Russia must not escalate the conflict in Ukraine with false claims that Kyiv is planning to unleash a so-called “dirty bomb”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned.