Peace settlement remains unattainable without Russia’s consent, Merz says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed that without Russia’s consent, a peaceful settlement remains unattainable.
Censor.NET reports this, citing a CSU meeting in the Bundestag.
Merz said that Russia’s approval of a peace agreement remains key. He stressed that peacekeepers are only one element of a potential settlement, but that Russia’s consent is still far off.
"The sequence of steps should be as follows: first a ceasefire, then security guarantees for Ukraine as a condition for a long-term agreement with Russia," Merz said. "And all of this is impossible without Russia’s approval, which is probably still a long way off."
Background
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Moscow would view the potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine after a peace agreement as an escalation. According to her, in that case, foreign military forces would allegedly become "legitimate Russian targets."
She also called statements about a possible deployment of a peacekeeping contingent "extremely far from a peaceful settlement."
