European Union countries are planning further negotiations in the coming days to coordinate their efforts to reach a peace agreement in the war in Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, stressing that he wants an EU-level agreement on the use of frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
"European security interests must be protected [...] Against this background, we are planning further coordination negotiations in the coming days," Merz said at a press conference in Berlin with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, adding that Ukraine is committed to reaching a negotiated solution.
Against the backdrop of Washington's new National Security Strategy, which is strongly nationalistic and In a speech that spoke of Europe's "civilizational decline," Merz said he wanted the United States to be a partner in the future, despite the changing relationship, and stressed that the next time he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump, he will tell him about the success of migration policy and the roughly halving of the number of asylum seekers in Germany.
"We are preparing for a change in transatlantic relations. But I would still like to see them as a partnership and I hope that America sees this in the same way in its relations with Europe and also with Germany," Merz said.
European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss the situation in Ukraine, two EU diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The meeting is expected to be attended by leaders of about ten European countries, all allies of Ukraine, diplomats said.
Earlier today, the Elysee Palace announced that a new meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing in Support of Ukraine has been scheduled for tomorrow, notes Agence France-Presse. The informal coalition of Kiev's allies, jointly led by Britain and France, will hold its meeting via videoconference.
Against the backdrop, the defense ministers of Germany, France and Spain will meet in Berlin on Friday, the German Defense Ministry announced, with the three countries discussing the fate of their joint project for the "Future Combat Air System" ("Future Combat Air System" - FCAS) worth 100 billion euros, notes Reuters.