Possible future German chancellor makes ambiguous statement on Ukraine
Photo: German chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (facebook.com/MerzCDU)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has not aimed for Ukraine to win the war started by Russia. Instead, he has been focused on preventing a loss, according to Friedrich Merz, the head of the opposition German party Christian Democratic Union, in the Bild article.
The politician noted that at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Scholz stated that Germany was helping Ukraine "not to lose." Merz shares this view.
"Ukraine will never be able to defeat Russia, this has never been the goal. But for me, winning means: It must restore sovereignty over its territory. And Russia must stop attacking this country," said Merz.
According to him, everything must be done to make Russia consider continuing the war hopeless. However, "we are still quite far from it."
"If we look at the balance today, two and a half years in, it looks quite dreadful and very sobering. I recently spoke about this in the Bundestag. We acted too late and did too little," he added.
It is worth noting that Friedrich Merz will be a candidate for chancellor in the 2025 parliamentary elections, as reported by Deutsche Welle. His candidacy has been officially approved by the conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union.
Additionally, before the full-scale war in Ukraine, Friedrich Merz was considered a likely successor to Angela Merkel as the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). At that time, he advocated for supplying weapons to Ukraine, stating that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin needed to receive a "clear response."
