Zelensky: Leaders' meeting could resolve our territorial dispute with the Russians

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev and Moscow were close to finalizing a document on a mechanism to monitor a possible ceasefire, following yesterday's US-brokered peace talks in Geneva, Reuters reported.

In an interview with "Piers Morgan Uncensored" (Piers Morgan Uncensored, a political talk show on YouTube hosted by British journalist Piers Morgan) Zelensky pointed out that progress "on political issues is slower and that the leaders of the two countries could try to reach an agreement between themselves on the most contentious issue, the territorial one".

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz does not see much prospect of an imminent agreement to end the war in Ukraine. According to him, the conflict can only end when one of the two sides is exhausted militarily or economically, DPA reported.

"In my opinion, this war will only end when one of the two sides is exhausted, either militarily or economically", Merz said in an interview published today in the "Rheinpfalz" newspaper.

As for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Merz added: "Rational and humanitarian arguments will not convince Putin. This is the bitter truth.

He pointed out that the aim of European efforts should therefore be to ensure that "the Russian state can no longer continue the war militarily and can no longer finance it economically".

According to Merz, the "Russian power clique" cannot survive without the war in the foreseeable future. "It has to keep the war machine running because it has no plan for what to do with the hundreds of thousands, some of them severely traumatized soldiers, who will return from the front," the chancellor said.

Merz described the state of today's Russia in very dark colors: "We are currently witnessing how this country has fallen into a state of profound barbarism. This is not going to change in the foreseeable future and this is something we have to come to terms with".

Ukraine has been fighting to repel Russian attacks for nearly four years. In recent days, the two sides have been holding talks in Geneva to end the war. Details of the discussions were not disclosed.