War against Putin – Merz: “Being threatened, we defend ourselves”

After the joint peace efforts of the EU, Great -Britain and the US, the CDU politician now comes to the conclusion that they were not successful: “However, from the start I have not made any illusions that this could be very quickly.” Russia is clearly not interested in a break of fire at the moment. “This means that Ukraine must continue to defend itself and that we have to strengthen our efforts so that Ukraine can defend itself,” said Germany’s Chancellor after a conversation with Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo in the city of Turku.

If you look at history, wars usually ended through economic or military exhaustion on one side or on both sides, the CDU politician was performed. “We are clearly far from that in this war.”

“We are threatened”
He therefore expects “that we may still have to adapt to a longer period,” the Chancellor warned. However, this does not change the determination of supporting Ukraine. It’s not just about their territorial integrity. “The political order is questioned by the ground that we gave ourselves together with Russia after 1990,” Merz explains. “We are threatened and we defend ourselves against it.”

Completion of the range
The previously announced cancellation of the limitations for the use of German weapons against Russian territory in the Ukrainian war meanwhile caused criticism from the coalition partner SPD. The social -democratic foreign politician Ralf Stegner called the step “not useful”. Everything that expanded the war is wrong, he told the editorial network of Germany (RND) on Tuesday. “Instead, I think it’s good to strengthen the diplomatic efforts.”

Merz had explained in Berlin on Monday that the weapons from Germany to Ukraine no longer apply, in terms of reach and therefore the use against Russian territory. The explanation means a change of course in its predecessor, the SPD politician Olaf Scholz. In contrast to important allies such as Great Britain and France, this had spoken against a general abolition of the limitations on the operations.

To what extent Merz coordinated his statements with the coalition partner SPD, initially remained open. In any case, Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil was in contradiction with the impression that a change was obvious. “As far as the range is concerned, I want to say that there is no new agreement that goes beyond the previous government,” said the SPD politician at a press conference in Berlin.

Putin and Turkish Foreign Minister spoke about ‘Peace’
In the meantime, conversations with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to end the fighting were completed in the Russian capital. Developments have also been a problem since the direct negotiations between a Russian and a Ukrainian delegation in Istanbul on 16 May, announced on Tuesday of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bilateral economic and energy issues were also discussed.

Fidan is a two -day visit to the Russian capital. There he came on Monday with Putin and also with the Russian main negotiator Vladimir Medinski. On Tuesday, Fidan will meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lawrow. There is no agreement on schedule and location for future discussions between Russia and Ukraine. Turkey, the NATO member, has offered himself as an intermediary and has repeatedly stated that it could make the conversations again.

Russia: Ukraine wants to prevent peace talks
In the meantime, the Russian Ministry of Defense accuses Ukraine of wanting to prevent peace talks with the help of Europe. With the support of some European countries, leadership in Kiev took a number of “provocative steps” to prevent the direct peace talks initiated by Russia, explained the Russian news agency Interfax, referring to the ministry.