Germany currently has no concrete plans to send troops to Ukraine, Merz says

BERLIN

Germany currently has no concrete plans to send peacekeeping troops to Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Tuesday.

In an interview with Sat1 television, Merz emphasized that discussions among Ukraine's allies on potential security guarantees are still ongoing for the period after a potential ceasefire and subsequent peace agreement.

"Many questions can only be answered once we have at least a ceasefire. Until then, there will certainly be no troop deployments to Ukraine," Merz said, adding that Germany has some reservations, and a final decision must be taken by parliament.

“Then we will have to look at what the agreement with Russia looks like. This cannot be done against Russia, it can only be done with Russia. So there are still many, many hurdles to overcome, possibly for quite a long time,” the conservative leader said.

Asked about the prospects for a peace summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the chancellor voiced skepticism. He said Putin is gaining ground and currently faces insufficient pressure to participate in negotiations.

“He sees how the US president is dealing with him. He sees how other world leaders – I'll just mention the Shanghai summit – are dealing with him,” Merz said. “At the moment, he has absolutely no reason to pursue a ceasefire or peace agreement. We have to create the right conditions. Militarily, it will be difficult, but economically, it can be done,” he added.

The chancellor argued that Western nations can increase pressure on Moscow by imposing stronger economic sanctions and placing tariffs on countries that maintain substantial trade relations with Russia, adding that this can only be successful with the active support of the US administration.