Peace for Ukraine cannot be concluded without Europeans, harming EU and NATO - Merz
German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz says that any peace agreement for Ukraine cannot be concluded without the participation of Europeans and not harm either Europe or NATO.
Merz said this on Thursday in Berlin at a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
"Today we discussed intensively again how we can make progress on the path to a ceasefire in Ukraine. Over the past week, we have seen the US initiative and momentum that we have not seen since February 24, 2022. We are both in close contact with President Zelenskyy, with our European partners, as well as with President Trump. As you know, yesterday, together with Kirst and Emmanuel Macron, we spoke in detail with President Trump," he said.
Merz stated that the work they are doing together "remains very difficult for a simple reason." "President Putin is relentlessly continuing his brutal war of aggression against the civilian population of Ukraine. At the same time, he is buying time in negotiations. Against this background, we have three main goals. First, we want a ceasefire for Ukraine that will put an end to this terrible war after almost four years. Second, this ceasefire must be backed by reliable legal and material guarantees, unlike the Minsk agreements, which would make the agreement long-term. And third, the solution reached through negotiations must preserve European security interests. It must not harm the interests of NATO and Europe," the German Chancellor said. That is why, in his opinion, "it is so important that we, Europeans, are part of this process." "No peace can be concluded without our participation. So there are difficult questions ahead, and we also agree that only Kyiv can decide what territorial arrangements it can accept. It would be a mistake to force the Ukrainian president into a peace that his people will not support after four years of suffering and death. Therefore, we are making it clear that we are demonstrating resilience in our support for Ukraine to achieve the goals that we share," Merz said.
The Chancellor also announced that the pressure on Moscow would be increased. "We will continue to increase this pressure. We will also increase our pressure on the "shadow fleet." We will continue to massively support Ukraine, especially when it comes to immobilizing Russian assets in Europe, in order to help Ukraine and enable it to defend itself effectively against future Russian aggression. All this serves two purposes. Firstly, peace in and for Ukraine, as well as security in Europe," he said.
