Germany will keep up its support for Kyiv “for as long as it takes”, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, calling for an enlargement of the European Union to eventually include Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia, writes Reuters.

Faced with Russia"s invasion of Ukraine, Scholz urged the EU’s 27 members to “close ranks, resolve old conflicts and find new solutions”, setting out his vision for the future of Europe in a speech at the Charles University in Prague.

“Our Europe is united in peace and freedom and is open to all European nations who share our values”, he said.

Germany had undergone a “fundamental change of heart” in recent months on its military support for Ukraine, he said.

“We will keep up this support, reliably and, above all, for as long as it takes”, - he told the packed university audience.

Scholz announced a paradigm shift in German foreign and defence policy in February, pledging to ramp up military spending, but his junior coalition partners have grown vexed that Berlin has been too slow to send Ukraine heavy weapons.