Addressing the Bundestag by videolink from Kyiv, the besieged Ukrainian capital, the president reminded Germany of its own cold war history.

“In three weeks of war to defend our lives and our freedom, we have become convinced and have felt what perhaps you do not feel, which is that you are once again behind the wall – not the Berlin Wall but a wall in the middle of Europe,” he said.

“And this wall gets stronger with every bomb that falls and every decision that is not taken.”

Mr Zelensky called for a new version of the Berlin air lift that broke Soviet food blockades on West Berlin to get humanitarian supplies to besieged cities in Ukraine.

Urging Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, to do more to help Ukraine, he invoked the spirit of Ronald Reagan and his famous call in Berlin: “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

“I turn to you, dear chancellor Scholz. Tear down this this wall,” he said. “Give Germany the leadership that Germany deserves, so that your descendants will be proud of you.”

The fallout from the war has left Germany shaken and divided. Mr Scholz announced that the country would abandon its long-standing policy and send arms to Ukraine in the wake of the invasion.

But Kyiv claims Europe’s biggest economy is not doing enough to help and is dragging its feet on sanctions.