{"id":234808,"date":"2025-12-15T23:55:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/234808\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T23:55:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T23:55:15","slug":"peace-process-for-ukraine-closer-than-at-any-time-since-start-of-russian-invasion-says-merz-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/234808\/","title":{"rendered":"Peace process for Ukraine closer than at any time since start of Russian invasion, says Merz \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u200bchance of a peace process around \u200dthe Ukraine<\/a> war is now closer than \u200dat any time since Russia<\/a>\u2019s full-scale invasion began in 2022, German chancellor \u200cFriedrich Merz<\/a> said on Monday, adding that the \u2060US had offered \u201cconsiderable\u201d security guarantees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat \u200cthe \u200bUS \u200dhas placed on the table here in Berlin in terms of legal \u2060and material guarantees is \u2060really considerable,\u201d Mr Merz told \u2060a joint news conference with Ukraine\u2019s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/a> \u200dafter hours of talks with US negotiators.<\/p>\n

\u201cA territorial settlement remains a key question,\u201d he added. \u201cOnly the Ukrainian people, the \u200cAmerican president, the Ukrainian \u200cpresident, here defending his territory, can give an answer … \u200cOnly Ukraine can decide about \u2060territorial concessions. No ifs or buts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier, the European Union<\/a>\u2019s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said pressuring Ukraine to give up the \u201cfortress\u201d of the Donbas region in any peace agreement would leave the rest of the country vulnerable to be conquered in a future Russian attack. <\/p>\n

European leaders are desperate to avoid Washington pushing Ukraine into a shaky truce that favours Moscow and potentially undermines Ukraine and Europe\u2019s future security. <\/p>\n

The question of territorial concessions, a red line for Ukraine and key demand for Russia, is seen as one of the biggest sticking points in agreeing a truce in Europe\u2019s deadliest conflict since 1945. <\/p>\n

Ukrainian \u200dnegotiators held a further round of talks with US officials in Berlin on Monday. During weekend discussions, US negotiators reportedly insisted Ukraine should give up territory in the east that Russia had been unable to take by force.<\/p>\n

A wider group of European leaders travelled to Berlin for talks with Mr Zelenskiy. <\/p>\n

\"HighHigh Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas speaks to the media in Brussels on Monday. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet\/EPA <\/p>\n

In a statement afterwards, European leaders gave an outline of proposed security guarantees they said had been agreed with US officials. <\/p>\n

They included a commitment Ukraine be permitted to maintain a peacetime army of 800,000 troops, which would be supported by a European-led military force securing Ukraine\u2019s skies. <\/p>\n

The statement said a US-led \u201cceasefire monitoring and verification\u201d system would watch for signs of any future attack or breach of a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

A peace deal should also include a \u201clegally binding commitment\u201d from allies to take steps to \u201crestore peace\u201d in the event Ukraine faced a future attack. \u201cThese measures may include armed force, intelligence and logistical assistance, economic and diplomatic actions,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n

The statement, signed by Mr Merz, French president Emmanuel Macron, UK prime minister Keir Starmer and several other EU leaders, pledged strong support for Ukraine\u2019s bid for EU membership. <\/p>\n

Speaking earlier in Brussels, Ms Kallas said taking the eastern Donbas region would not be Russian leader Vladimir Putin\u2019s \u201cend game\u201d. The real goal was to control the entire country, the former Estonian prime minister said. \u201cIf Ukraine goes, then other regions are also in danger,\u201d Ms Kallas said. <\/p>\n

The US and Ukraine were making \u201creal progress\u201d during talks in Berlin, Ukraine\u2019s negotiator Rustem Umerov said earlier on Monday, in a post on X. \u201cWe hope we will reach an agreement that will bring us closer to peace,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Mr Zelenskiy indicated his country might shelve its ambition to join the Nato military alliance, a key demand it had previously put forward as a condition of any peace deal. <\/p>\n

However, Mr Zelenskiy said Kyiv would still need the US and other western allies to provide solid security guarantees, which would act as a deterrent to any future Russian attack. <\/p>\n

Separate negotiations are continuing in Brussels to provide a significant package of financial support to Ukraine this week, to fill a shortfall expected to be felt towards the second half of next year. <\/p>\n

The leaders of the EU\u2019s 27 member states meet in Brussels on Thursday for what will be tense negotiations on a plan to use Russian state assets to fund a \u20ac90 billion loan to Kyiv. The Russian cash has been frozen in Europe by economic sanctions introduced in the early days of the war. <\/p>\n

The Belgian government continues to withhold its support for the plan, which is politically seen as crucial to its success given the assets are frozen in Euroclear, a securities depository in Belgium. <\/p>\n

The Belgian government is concerned the so-called reparations loan would draw retaliation from Moscow. It wants assurances any risk would be carried by the EU as a whole. <\/p>\n

Alternative options, such as EU states jointly borrowing money to fund a loan to Ukraine, had not flown in the past, Ms Kallas said. \u201cThe most credible option is the reparations loan,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

Joint EU borrowing would need the unanimous support of all 27 states, meaning Hungary\u2019s far-right prime minister Viktor Orban would likely block the plan. <\/p>\n

The loan funded by Russia\u2019s frozen central bank assets would only require the agreement of a large majority of capitals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u200bchance of a peace process around \u200dthe Ukraine war is now closer than \u200dat any time since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[25123,9,10,2219,13,14,6622,6621,6,11,12,15,16,5,550,7,8,2264,384,26163,2263,2267,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-234808","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-berlin","9":"tag-breaking-news","10":"tag-breakingnews","11":"tag-european-union","12":"tag-featured-news","13":"tag-featurednews","14":"tag-friedrich-merz","15":"tag-germany","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-latest-news","18":"tag-latestnews","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-russia","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topstories","25":"tag-ukraine-crisis","26":"tag-united-states","27":"tag-viktor-orban","28":"tag-vladimir-putin","29":"tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy","30":"tag-world","31":"tag-world-news","32":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115726288812585512","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}