Friedrich Merz. Photo: Getty Images
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that at present Russian leader Vladimir Putin has no reason to end the war or conclude a peace agreement with Ukraine.
Source: Merz in an interview with German TV channel Sat.1
Details: Speaking to journalists, Merz said that he has no grounds to trust the Russian leader. He believes Putin will only be ready for talks when it serves his own interests.
Advertisement:
Quote: “He will be ready for talks only when it benefits him himself. At present, in his [Putin’s] view, continuing the war is beneficial to him. He is seizing territory. He sees the discussion we are having here in Europe and in the US. He sees how the US president treats him. He sees how other heads of state and government around the world treat him – I will just mention the key word ‘Shanghai summit’.”
Details: Merz stressed that in order to change the Kremlin’s position, conditions must be created that would force Russia to seek a way out of the war. In his opinion, this can primarily be done by economic means – by exhausting Russia’s war economy.
Quote: “He [Putin] has no reason to agree to a ceasefire or a peace agreement at present. We must create those reasons. This will be difficult from a military point of view, but it is possible from an economic perspective. We must ensure that Russia is unable to maintain its war economy.”
Details: As an example, Merz suggested introducing tariffs for countries that continue to trade actively with Russia.
Background:
At the end of August, Merz said the Russo-Ukrainian war might last a very long time and the issue of deploying ground troops to Ukraine is not on the agenda for now.
On 2 August, Merz also expressed serious doubts about sending German troops to Ukraine even after a possible ceasefire.
Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!