Diplomatic means in Russia-Ukraine war 'exhausted,' Germany's Merz warns
Diplomatic means for resolving the Russia-Ukraine war "have been exhausted," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in the parliament on July 9, promising further assistance to Kyiv.
The comments come as the recent Russian-Ukrainian peace talks in Istanbul failed to reach any progress in ending the hostilities, except for an agreement on new prisoner exchanges.
"When a criminal regime openly questions another country’s right to exist with military force and sets out to destroy the political order of freedom on the entire European continent, the federal government I lead will do everything in its power to prevent this," Merz said in comments cited by the Guardian.
The German chancellor vowed to maintain backing for Ukraine "even against the pressure of the political left and the pro-Russian right in this house."
Germany has been the leading European supporter of Ukraine during the full-scale war, providing almost 44 billion euros (around $50 billion) in various aid since 2022.
While Merz vowed to maintain this support since his election victory earlier this year, the pro-Ukraine direction has faced mounting pressure from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and some left-wing politicians.
A group of figures connected to the Social Democratic Party (SPD), a coalition partner of Merz's center-right CDU/CSU alliance, issued a manifesto last month calling for diplomatic talks with Russia.
The statement was rejected by both Merz and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, himself an SPD member.
Germany's support for Ukraine is ever more crucial now as the U.S. support grows increasingly uncertain. U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to broker a swift peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow and has long been reluctant to greenlight new military aid packages.
Earlier in July, the Pentagon paused some of the military shipments approved by the Biden administration en route to Ukraine. Trump ordered at least some of these deliveries resumed and promised to help Kyiv with Patriot supplies, just as Russia escalates aerial strikes against Ukraine.
Seeking to bolster the Ukrainian sky shield against Russian attacks, Trump reportedly proposed to Merz to sell an additional Patriot battery to Ukraine. Berlin has previously provided at least three Patriot systems to the country.
