Merz: Issue of sending German troops to Ukraine not on the table yet

The question of sending German troops to Ukraine is not on the table now, but Germany has other options for providing Ukraine with security guarantees or monitoring the ceasefire, said newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

As reported by DW, Merz said this in an interview he gave on a plane during his first foreign trip as chancellor. "The question of sending German troops to Ukraine to ensure peace there is not even on the table yet (...) We are still very far from a ceasefire, and even further from a peace agreement," Merz noted.

However, he mentioned other possibilities for Germany to participate in providing security guarantees to Ukraine or monitoring the ceasefire: "We could, of course, continue to provide very strong support to the Ukrainian army, supply it with weapons with the help of the United States as part of a joint European effort."

There is "a whole range of possibilities to ensure that such a ceasefire agreement is firmly established and that the next peace agreement is truly respected," the German Chancellor added.

At the same time, he expressed hope that the "ceasefire" for May 8-10, announced at the end of April by Vladimir Putin, could be extended. "However, this is exclusively in the hands of the Russian leadership," Merz emphasized.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had earlier called Putin's announcement of a unilateral ceasefire for three days a manipulation. On May 7, Zelenskyy confirmed that Ukraine's proposal for a ceasefire for at least 30 days remains in force.