Ukraine must not be forced to surrender Donbas to Russia in talks, says Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz emphasized that Kyiv must not be forced into territorial concessions.

"The Russian demand that Kyiv give up the free parts of Donbas corresponds, to put it bluntly, to a proposal for the United States to have to give up Florida," Merz told reporters after the White House talks on Monday.

Further contacts

Merz confirmed that during their phone call, Putin and Trump agreed that within the next two weeks, a meeting between the presidents of Russia and Ukraine will take place. He stressed that such a summit must be carefully prepared.

Merz said it was unclear whether Putin would have the courage to attend, noting that the issue had been discussed and that Trump had paused the meeting to call the Russian leader. According to him, Trump and Putin agreed that Zelenskyy and Putin would meet one-on-one within two weeks, although the location had not yet been decided. He added that Trump had expressed his readiness to join them later in a trilateral format.

Constructive meeting

The chancellor said that the White House meeting allowed leaders to align their positions and even exceeded expectations.

Merz said that the meeting between Zelenskyy and Trump had gone very well, describing it as constructive and held in a relaxed atmosphere. He stressed that Trump’s willingness to join the security guarantees for Ukraine was welcomed and explained that this had been the subject of a long and detailed discussion. According to him, once peace was reached, Ukraine would receive security guarantees from Europe with full US support.

He underlined that genuine negotiations could only take place with Ukraine’s participation and only after a complete ceasefire, noting that it was hard to imagine talks between Zelenskyy and Putin without such a silence regime. He added that this issue still needed further discussion.

The chancellor also pointed out Trump’s interest in humanitarian matters, saying the leaders had discussed in detail the fate of 19,000 abducted Ukrainian children. He noted that Zelenskyy had presented a specific case, the story of one child, that illustrated what had been happening daily to Ukrainian children for more than three years, and that this had been an extremely emotional moment for Trump.

Washington summit on August 18

The Washington summit on August 18 brought together Zelenskyy, Trump, and several European leaders at the White House.

Discussions centered on the next steps and meetings in the negotiation process aimed at ending the war. Following the talks, Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin, who agreed to meet with Zelenskyy, and later announced preparations for a summit between the two leaders.

Zelenskyy, for his part, made clear that territorial issues would be discussed directly between him and Putin. Trump stated that Ukraine’s security guarantees would be formalized within seven to ten days.