German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told Der Spiegel that, in his view, the conflict in Ukraine will only end when one of the sides is completely exhausted. He argued that right now there is no realistic way to bring the fighting to a quick close, including through negotiations.

Merz stressed that, as he sees it, the war will come to an end only when one of the two parties is depleted either militarily or economically.

He recalled that in the autumn of last year he had promised to supply Ukraine with long-range weapons systems as part of Germany’s military support. According to Merz, Berlin is doing everything it can to provide Kiev with arms and intends to continue this line of support in the coming months. At the same time, he called on young Ukrainians to stay in their country and serve there, rather than move to Germany.

It is also noted that on 17–18 February three-way talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States on resolving the Ukrainian crisis took place in Geneva. Sources say the work of the political group hit a deadlock because of the positions put forward by the chief Russian negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky.