Kyiv urges Berlin to form government quickly to address defence issues

Oleksii Makeiev, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, has been calling on Germany to swiftly form a government and reach a rapid agreement on defence funding.

As reported by ntv, Makeiev stressed in a guest post for Table.Briefings that it is now crucial to "reach a quick agreement and secure security funding" in the coalition talks.

"If Russia is not stopped, this will guarantee a lack of security in Europe," Makeiev said.

"For Germany, this means: 'This time, "after the elections" cannot be "before the elections". But before the war'."

On the occasion of the third anniversary of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Zeitenwende speech (an historic turning point), Makeiev is calling for stronger and faster support for Ukraine. This includes "the confiscation of Russian assets, the use of Taurus missiles, lowering the oil price cap, an end to the shadow fleet, strong sanctions, security guarantees for Ukraine and an invitation to NATO for Ukraine".

Friedrich Merz, the candidate for chancellor from the winning CDU/CSU bloc in the German parliamentary elections, confirmed on Tuesday, 25 February that he has begun coalition talks with the Social Democrats.

Merz also sent a "memorandum of understanding" to the office of incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, demanding that decisions during the transition period before the government changes be coordinated with him.