Merz: The War in Ukraine Could Reach Germany
Tehran - BORNA - Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, on the eve of the Ukraine war entering its fifth year, claimed that Russia has not only waged war against Ukraine but "this aggression is part of the Kremlin's plan against other European countries."
Deutsche Welle news agency reported: Merz, in the New Year's speech addressed to German citizens, noted that the Russia-Ukraine war is not far from Germany.
The German Chancellor said: "Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine with relentless violence. Ukrainians, for the fourth consecutive year, will celebrate the New Year holiday in the most unfavorable conditions—many without electricity, under a barrage of missiles, and fearful for the fate of friends and relatives."
He added that this war directly threatens the freedom and security of not only Germany but all of Europe.
The German Chancellor also said, speaking of increasing defense costs and the new military service system in Germany: "I know that due to uncertainty in our world, many citizens are concerned about the issue of peace. I tell you: we are taking care of our security."
The remarks by Merz come after the announcement of a drone attack by Ukraine on the Russian President's residence—amidst U.S. negotiations with Kyiv regarding Washington’s peace initiative—caused an escalation of tensions between the parties.
Moscow, which considered this alleged action as Ukraine's turning away from peace, has promised that its retaliatory attack against Kyiv’s government buildings is on the way at the appropriate time.
This is while Ukraine has denied such an attack was carried out by its armed forces. All drones of the mentioned attack were intercepted and left no damage.
Negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine regarding Washington’s peace plan—which includes limiting the Ukrainian army, its renunciation of the country's approved demand to join the NATO alliance, the formation of a demilitarized zone in the strategically and industrially important Donbas province, the ceding of some areas under Russian control to Moscow, and providing NATO-like security guarantees to Ukraine—have yielded no tangible results despite the progress made in them.
Ukraine has so far announced that it is ready to withdraw its forces from the front line on the condition that Russia does the same in order to form a demilitarized zone and to forgo joining NATO in exchange for receiving security guarantees.
End Article