German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized that Ukraine should not be forced to concede Donbas to Russia during peace negotiations. He expressed his position by comparing such a demand to a hypothetical transfer of Florida by the United States to another country.
This is reported by Kyiv24
Friedrich Merz’s Position on Territorial Concessions
“Russia’s demand for Kyiv to hand over the free parts of Donbas, to be frank, is akin to a proposal for the U.S. to give up Florida,” Merz told reporters after talks at the White House.
According to the German Chancellor, Russia’s insistence on Kyiv transferring controlled parts of Donbas is unacceptable. Merz stressed that such territorial concessions cannot form the basis for resolving the conflict.
Discussion of Upcoming Negotiations Between Leaders
Furthermore, Friedrich Merz reported that during a phone call, Russian President Vladimir Putin and former U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to organize a meeting between the President of Russia and the President of Ukraine within the next two weeks. At the same time, Donald Trump stated on his social media platform Truth Social that he is preparing a meeting between the two leaders, after which a trilateral meeting involving him will take place.
On August 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington, where he held talks with Donald Trump. A meeting also took place involving key European allies, including Friedrich Merz.
Earlier, on August 15, negotiations took place in Alaska between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump regarding a possible end to Russia’s war against Ukraine. However, no specific agreements were officially announced following the meeting.
According to media reports, during the negotiations, Putin demanded that Trump agree to recognize Russian sovereignty over the occupied Crimea as part of a future peace agreement. Additionally, the draft agreement proposed by the Russian side included the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in exchange for Russia’s promise to freeze the front line in the territories of Kherson and Zaporizhia regions.
Russia also reportedly expressed its readiness to return small areas of occupied territories in the northern Sumy and northeastern Kharkiv regions.
The Ukrainian side emphasizes that it does not consider the possibility of withdrawing its troops from the controlled areas of Donbas and opposes any territorial concessions to Russia.