Merz, Macron, Starmer and Tusk in Kyiv – DW – 05/10/2025

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that Russia would face more sanctions if it refuses a 30-day ceasefire, in an interview published on Saturday in the Ball newspaper.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin does not accept the truce, “there will be a massive hardening of sanctions and massive aid to Ukraine will continue – politically, of course, but also financially and militarily,” said on a daily basis.

The German Chancellor visited Kyiv on Saturday with the leaders of France, Great Britain and Poland.

“We agree with the American government, with (American president) Donald Trump. We demand a 30-day ceasefire so that peace negotiations can be prepared during this period, “he said.

“The ball is now in Putin’s courtyard. Putin must respond to this offer.”

The Ukraine ambassador to Germany said on Saturday that he expected Chancellor Friedrich Merz announces new arms expeditions to kyiv.

“We hope that we are going to conclude these negotiations from a position of strength. I feel that the German-Ukrainian partnership with the new federal government will be high at a whole new level,” Oleksi Makeiev told journalists.

The new German government under Merz wants to keep weapons agreements with kyiv under the Wraps, sources told the German news agency.

Makeiev also said Kyiv was ready for a ceasefire.

The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomes the leaders of France, Germany, Poland in Kyiv.

The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk are during their first joint visit to Ukraine.

The visit comes at an unpredictable diplomatic moment in the war of more than three years in Russia against Ukraine when US President Donald Trump is pressure for a rapid peace agreement.

Trump called for a 30-day ceasefire and Zelenskyy said he would be ready to implement him immediately.

“We reiterate our support for President Trump’s calls to a peace agreement and call on Russia to stop obstructing efforts to ensure lasting peace,” European leaders said in a joint statement.

“We will continue to increase our support for Ukraine. Until Russia accepts a lasting ceasefire, we will increase the pressure on the Russian war machine,” they said.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also arrived in kyiv by train on Saturday morning.

“An important day awaits us,” he posted on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that leaders of the “Coalition of the Willing” will meet on Saturday in kyiv.

He did not say who would all be present, but added that it would be an important meeting for European security.

This coalition includes around thirty countries including Germany led by France and Great Britain, which are allied with Ukraine and wishing to support it after a possible ceasefire.

The United States is not part of this coalition, although President Donald Trump has urged kyiv and Moscow to agree on the terms of a ceasefire.

Kyiv called on its European allies to send soldiers to enforce a potential ceasefire and to ward off any potential future aggression of Russia, as well as to urge them to increase sanctions.

Russia supports the implementation of a 30-day ceasefire in the Ukrainian conflict, but only by considering “nuances” in the war of more than three years, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

“This theme has been advanced for a long time by the Ukrainian side. And as soon as it was advanced by the American administration of Donald Trump), it was supported by the president (Vladimir) Putin with the reserve that he is very difficult to discuss it in detail, said Peskov.

Russia previously declared that the introduction of a long-term ceasefire depends on the establishment of mechanisms to monitor and maintain such a decision.

The leaders of Great Britain, France, Germany and Poland visit the Ukrainian capital, for interviews with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Vis are an extremely symbolic spectacle of European unity.

This occurs after Russian President Vladimir Putin took a provocative tone during a parade in Moscow marking 80 years since the victory during the Second World War.

Before the visit, the four leaders called on Russia to “agree with a complete and unconditional ceasefire of 30 days” and warned that “we will increase the pressure on the Russian war machine” until it does.

On Friday, Zelenskyy announced during a video conference that the “Coalition of the Willing” would meet in Kyiv on Saturday.

The “coalition of willingly” is made up of around thirty countries and is led by France and Great Britain. They all work on plans to help Ukraine after a possible ceasefire