Russia wants to 'bomb Kharkiv to the ground,' Germany's Baerbock says

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged increased international efforts to supply more air defence systems in view of the threat of a major Russian offensive on the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin wants to "bomb Kharkiv to the ground," warned Baerbock. "He wants to destroy, he wants to deliberately destroy."

"If Russia launches a major offensive there, it would cause immeasurable suffering," she said.

"Unfortunately, the stocks, especially our own Patriot systems, are now pretty much exhausted," she said at a meeting with Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi in Berlin on Tuesday.

Baerbock said that the Patriot air defence systems available in Europe and around the world needed to be deployed to benefit Ukraine.

She said that a fund was being worked on with Ukraine and European partners to purchase air defence systems from other countries around the world and deliver them quickly.

She hoped that further information could be provided at the meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Italy next week.