Merz: pressure on Russia must be increased
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz describes Russia’s war against Ukraine as “barbaric” and pledges to continue to stand firmly by Ukraine’s side.
Berlin (dpa) - Germany’s Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called for more pressure to be put on Russia to halt its attacks on Ukraine. “This war will only end when Russia no longer sees any point in continuing it. When Russia can no longer count on making any territorial gains, when the costs of this madness have simply become too high for Russia,” Merz said in Berlin.
To mark the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the chancellor once again condemned the inhuman way in which Russia is waging its war: “No one should be in any doubt about what kind of regime and what kind of barbarism we are dealing with from Russia during these years.”
The chancellor also expressed the belief that Russia’s military ambitions under President Vladimir Putin go far beyond Ukraine: “Putin will not stop his campaign if Ukraine gives up and surrenders. We hear the threats, after all. We see the provocations in the Baltic countries, in the Baltic Sea, the hybrid attacks all over Europe, and currently also here in Germany.”
He pledged Ukraine further support from Germany. Merz also noted that Germany had provided Ukraine with bilateral civilian support worth around 40 billion euros and military support totalling more than 50 billion euros since the start of the war.
