German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made an unexpected visit to Kyiv, vowing his country would remain Ukraine's biggest supporter in Europe and promising delivery this month of military aid worth 650 million euros ($A1.1 billion).
The visit, his second since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, signals Germany's support at a time of uncertainty ahead of Donald Trump's return to the White House and as Russian forces make steady territorial gains.
Scholz will hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is set to push NATO to invite Ukraine to join the military alliance at a meeting in Brussels this week.
The visit on Monday could also offer a way for the German chancellor to try to shore up his foreign policy credentials, as he faces a tough battle for re-election at a snap vote in February after his coalition collapsed in November.
His own record on supporting Ukraine has been under scrutiny both from those who want him to do more to help Kyiv and, on the other side, from voters who want Germany to pull back from sending weapons and aid to Ukraine.
While trumpeting Germany as Ukraine's second-biggest weapons supplier after the United States, Scholz has repeatedly refused to send the Taurus cruise missile to Ukraine, fearing this could draw his country into a direct conflict with Russia.
He also drew fire from allies, including Zelenskiy himself, for holding a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time in almost two years in November, which critics saw as targeted for domestic political gain.
"Germany will remain Ukraine’s strongest supporter in Europe," Scholz wrote on X, adding he would announce during his meeting with Zelenskiy "further military equipment worth 650 million euros, which is to be delivered in December".
Support for Ukraine is shaping up as a major issue in Germany's federal election.
Friedrich Merz, the conservative opposition leader who is on course to unseat Scholz, has said Germany should send Taurus missiles and at the weekend accused the chancellor of scare-mongering over the issue.
No program has been published for Scholz's Ukraine visit but visiting leaders typically hold a joint news conference with Zelenskiy during trips to Kyiv.
The visit comes a day after Antonio Costa, the new president of the European Union's Council of member states, and new EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas visited the Ukrainian capital on their first day in office to demonstrate support.
Moscow's troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine's east, part of a drive to fully seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian air strikes continue to target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
In November, the outgoing Joe Biden administration granted Ukraine permission to use Western weapons to strike further into Russian territory.
Moscow responded by attacking Ukraine with a new intermediate-range ballistic missile and has threatened strikes on government sites in Kyiv.
Kyiv has long demanded Moscow withdraw all troops from its territory.
It also wants Western security guarantees comparable to NATO membership to prevent Russia from attacking again.
Moscow, which controls nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory, demands recognition of its annexation of Ukrainian land and permanent neutrality for Ukraine.
Zelenskiy last week floated the idea of Ukraine being granted NATO membership even while Russia occupies some captured territory, a solution he said could end the "hot stage" of the war.
In remarks on Sunday, Zelenskiy clarified that any invitation to join the alliance must extend to all Ukrainian territory, even if the alliance's collective defence agreement might not operate in areas occupied by Russian forces.
