Friedrich Merz believes the war in Ukraine will end only after one side is exhausted

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he does not believe the ongoing peace talks will be effective. He thinks the war in Ukraine may end only when one side’s resources are exhausted.

He said this in an interview with Rheinpfalz.

Merz quoted the Franco-American historian Astolphe de Custine, who after extensive travels in Russia in the 19th century wrote: “Russia is currently the most remarkable country for an observer, because there one can find both the deepest barbarism and the highest civilization.” The chancellor said those words remain relevant today.

“Right now we see this country in a state of the deepest barbarism. This will not change in the near future, and we must accept that,” he said.

In his view, the war will end through the military or economic exhaustion of either Ukraine or Russia.

“This war will end only when one of the two sides is exhausted—either militarily or economically. Reason and humanitarian arguments will not convince Vladimir Putin. That is the bitter truth,” Merz said.

He also spoke about the European Union’s desire that “the Russian state can no longer wage war—neither militarily nor economically.”

“The Russian elite cannot do without war in the foreseeable future. They need to keep the war machine running because they have no plan for what else to do with hundreds of thousands of soldiers returning from the front,” the chancellor said.

Earlier, Wolfgang Ischinger, the chair of the Munich Security Conference, said that ending the war in Ukraine is not beneficial for Europe because then the Russian army would threaten it.

It was also reported today that the EU plans to present Russia with demands to withdraw troops not only from Ukraine but also from Belarus, Transnistria, and South Ossetia.