Merz in Kyiv: Putin will agree to negotiations when Ukraine can defend itself
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the German opposition and candidate to become the German Chancellor of the parliamentary group of CDU/CSU (Union), arrived in Kyiv on a working trip on 9 December. During the trip, he said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will only agree to negotiate with Ukraine when the latter will be able to defend itself.
"The war in Ukraine has to end as soon as possible. Putin will only agree to negotiate when Ukraine is able to defend itself," Friedrich Merz wrote on X (Twitter).
Merz said that he came to Kyiv to find out what the situation in Ukraine was like and how Germany could further support the country.
In October, Merz proposed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Germany, along with the UK and France, issue an ultimatum to Putin. "He must be told: if he does not stop bombing civilians in Ukraine within 24 hours, then Germany must send Taurus missiles to destroy the supply routes this regime is using to harm Ukraine’s civilian population."
He later expressed a similar position in an interview with the Stern magazine.
Recently, Scholz accused Merz of taking too many risks in supporting Ukraine, including the possible supply of long-range Taurus missiles.