Christmas truce. Merz says ceasefire in Ukraine possible

For the first time since February 24, 2022, these days it is possible to imagine the possibility of a Christmas truce in Ukraine, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. His words were quoted by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Monday, December 15.

According to Merz, negotiators from the United States, Ukraine and Germany agreed in Berlin on five goals for a possible truce.

"Now we have a chance for a real peace process for Ukraine. This plant is still small, but the chance is real. Now is the time to talk about the price of peace. We are talking about security guarantees, territories and an effective mechanism to monitor the ceasefire. It is up to Ukraine to decide on possible territorial concessions," the German Chancellor said.

Merz named five goals that a possible truce should achieve:

1. The ceasefire must preserve the sovereignty of the Ukrainian state.
2. The ceasefire must be provided with substantial legal and material security guarantees from the US and Europe.
3. Ukrainians, Europeans and Americans will jointly develop the terms of the ceasefire.
4. The ceasefire must not harm the unity and strength of NATO and the EU.
5. The ceasefire must preserve Ukraine's European perspective and enable and facilitate its restoration.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on December 15, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the talks with the American side in Germany were not easy, but productive.

On December 15, US Presidential Special Envoy Steve Witkoff reported achieving significant progress following the talks in Berlin between American and Ukrainian representatives.

On December 15, Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhii Kyslytsia said that the level of understanding of Ukrainian interests by American partners is impressive and that conspiracy theories and information about the talks from anonymous sources are false.

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