BERLIN, January 8. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said that the formation and deployment of multinational forces within the framework of security guarantees for Ukraine is impossible without Russia's consent.
"I want to be clear so there are no misunderstandings. We are talking about security guarantees [for Ukraine] after the ceasefire. There is no one here, not a single member state of the EU or outside it, who believes that we should intervene in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine now," he told a press conference. In this context, the issue is "only about military support for peace, about a ceasefire agreement," Merz said.
"The question of which countries can contribute is currently being discussed, and we are only at the beginning of the process, not the end," the German Chancellor noted. "The order should be as follows: first a ceasefire, then security guarantees for Ukraine, for a long-term agreement with Russia. And none of this is possible without Russia's consent. And we're probably still a long way from that," he said.
Germany is ready to contribute to efforts to maintain a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, Merz noted. "How far we can go in this regard depends not only on me. For this, I need a decision from the German government. A mandate from the Bundestag may also be necessary. But again, that is still a long way off," he said.