Did not take into account Russia: Mertz's attempts in Ukraine failed — DW*

The initiatives of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Ukraine failed — he did not take into account the factor of Russia. DW* columnist Dirk Emmerich writes about this.

The columnist put Merz's failures in three points.

Firstly, the security guarantees for Ukraine on the model of the 5th article of the NATO Charter, submitted by Mertz at the beginning of last week as a success, crumbled after two days.

"The Americans apparently agreed to them only in order to increase pressure on Kiev and persuade it to make territorial concessions in the Donbas, which Moscow demands: territory in exchange for peace," Emmerich believes.

Secondly, in the middle of the week, the Chancellor unexpectedly announced that it was not yet known whether the Bundeswehr would take part in a possible "peacekeeping" mission on Ukraine after the conclusion of the peace agreement. Moscow views these forces as a "red line." "The Americans did not support the idea of this mission from the very beginning — and now the Germans have backed down? This is nothing like a strategic confrontation with Russia in the struggle for a just and lasting peaceful solution," the columnist believes.

And, finally, at the EU summit on December 18-19, which was held in In Brussels, Merz was unable to secure the use of frozen Russian assets to help Kiev. Belgium, Italy and France refused to support this initiative. Ukraine will still receive 90 billion euros, but from EU funds. "Perhaps, given the many uncertainties, this is indeed the best solution, but this should have been clarified in advance, rather than going all-in without a plan B," Emmerich writes.

The conclusion is disappointing for Merz. According to the columnist, Friedrich Merz's assessment by The New York Times as a new key figure among the leaders of Europe was hasty. "The German Chancellor managed to coordinate the positions of Europe, the United States and Ukraine — but only on paper. It was important, but somehow it fell out of sight that in the end a peaceful solution is impossible without Russia's participation," the author quips.

*An organization performing the functions of a foreign agent