Merz gave Zelensky advice before meeting with Trump

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that he had given Vladimir Zelensky some advice on how to behave during his visit to the White House scheduled for Monday, August 18. He stated this in an interview with ARD TV channel.

Merz expressed the hope that the conversation for Zelensky would be of "very high quality" "from the point of view of protocol" and stressed that Ukraine should not make any territorial concessions before signing a peace agreement. Berlin is confident in the possibility of achieving this goal by joint forces, the Chancellor noted.

"More diplomacy than in the last few days is simply impossible," he said.

Zelensky announced a meeting with Trump in Washington on August 18 after a telephone conversation in which they discussed the main results of the meeting of the American leader with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. Zelensky then added that Kiev supports Washington's proposal to arrange a trilateral summit of Ukraine, the United States and Russia.

Trump admitted the possibility of organizing a trilateral summit in an interview with Fox News after talks with Putin in Anchorage. Putin himself pointed to the need for "certain conditions" for negotiations with Zelensky.