Germany Merz insists on ceasefire in Ukraine
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz insists on a ceasefire in Ukraine. At the Ukraine summit with US President Donald Trump and European allies, Merz said that he could not imagine that the next peace negotiations could take place without a ceasefire. The next format for talks should be a three-way meeting - i.e. negotiations between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
18.08.2025, 21:36
SDA
"Let's work on this and try to put pressure on Russia," said Merz at the meeting with Trump, Zelenskyi and several European leaders in Washington.
Ukraine's European allies and the attacked country itself have been insisting on a ceasefire for some time. Without it, serious diplomatic negotiations on an end to the war would not be possible, they say time and again. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, for example, had argued that the invaded Ukraine in particular could not otherwise be expected to engage in a peace process.
Before the talks with Putin last Friday in Alaska, Trump had insisted on an immediate ceasefire. After the summit, there was no more talk of this. Most recently, talks about an end to the war in Ukraine were repeatedly accompanied by fierce Russian attacks.
