26-05-2025
Report: Ukraine's Zelensky to visit Germany on Wednesday to meet Merz
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selensky is expected to visit Berlin on Wednesday to meet Chancellor Friedrich Merz, German media reported on Monday.
Der Spiegel magazine said Merz wants to discuss possible steps towards further "technical" peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Merz is also set to inform the Ukrainian president about plans for a new EU sanctions package against Russia, intended to increase the pressure on Moscow to engage in serious negotiations.
The German chancellor, who took office earlier this month, has voiced support for the European Commission's proposal to prevent the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea from resuming operations under the new sanctions.
During a visit to Kiev earlier this month, Merz, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, had threatened further sanctions on Russia if Moscow did not agree to a 30-day ceasefire.
The pressure led Russian President Vladimir Putin to propose direct talks with Ukraine in Istanbul for the first time in three years, but the negotiations did not produce any results apart from a prisoner exchange.
Zelensky is also due to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.
