Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that Western nations will eventually need to engage in dialogue with Russia to bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Merkel emphasized that the focus should not only be on military support for Ukraine but also on long-term strategies to ensure its independence once hostilities cease.
Merkel, who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021, has long been a key figure in European diplomacy. As one of the guarantors of the 2014-2015 Minsk agreements, she played a pivotal role in efforts to peacefully resolve the conflict in Ukraine’s Donbass region, which sought to grant greater autonomy to the separatist territories. However, in 2022, she admitted that the agreements were more of a temporary measure aimed at giving Ukraine time to strengthen its military forces, a perspective that has drawn both praise and criticism.
Despite the ongoing military support to Ukraine, particularly from Germany, which is Europe’s largest provider of military aid to Kyiv after the United States, Merkel stressed that there would be no purely military solution to the conflict. “There will not be a solution that is only military,” she stated, underscoring the importance of future negotiations. While acknowledging that determining the right time for dialogue is a decision for current leaders, Merkel asserted that conversations with Russia would be inevitable at some point in the future.
In her recently published memoir, Freedom: Memories 1954-2021, Merkel also revisits a significant moment from her tenure—her stance at the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, where Ukraine and Georgia’s bids for closer ties with NATO were debated. Merkel opposed granting them Membership Action Plans, warning that it would provoke Russia and lead to further instability, with little guarantee of security for the aspiring countries. Despite criticism from Ukrainian leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merkel remains firm in her position, believing that it was a wise decision at the time.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed openness to negotiations, with President Vladimir Putin recently reiterating that any peace talks should be based on the terms outlined in the 2022 Istanbul agreements. These proposals included a neutral, non-aligned status for Ukraine and restrictions on foreign weaponry. However, Russia has also made it clear that any future negotiations must reflect the “reality on the ground,” signaling that Ukraine may have to make territorial concessions, particularly regarding regions like Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporozhye, and Crimea—areas that have been annexed by Russia.
