Merz Says Germany ‘Guaranteed’ a Seat at Ukraine Peace Talks

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that Germany will participate in upcoming peace negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, with talks involving European representatives expected in the coming weeks.Speaking at an informal European Union summit in Dublin, Merz said the likely participants would include European countries represented at this week’s trilateral talks between the US, Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi, local outlet European Pravda reported.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.“Germany is a guaranteed participant; that is absolutely clear,” he said.Merz said substantive peace negotiations with European representation were planned for the coming weeks.Merz also urged US President Donald Trump to avoid surprises during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at next week’s APEC summit in China.He said some leaders in Dublin feared a “second Anchorage moment,” referring to the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, where Trump welcomed Putin with a red carpet and reportedly proposed a land-swap deal with Moscow against Kyiv’s wishes.“I therefore want to make our message to the United States very clear: Please, no surprises. Keep playing as part of ‘Team Europe’ and ‘Team Ukraine,’” Merz said.His comments followed an announcement by US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff that another meeting of negotiating teams had already been scheduled.Speaking alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Dublin, Witkoff described the Abu Dhabi talks as positive and said they had produced some progress. Other Topics of Interest Veterans, young people, diplomats and media leaders will gather in Kyiv to discuss how democracy can remain strong under wartime pressure. “We have another meeting scheduled, and we will do everything we can to achieve the goal,” Witkoff said.Kushner said Washington had spent months working with European partners, stressing that their participation was essential to reaching a lasting peace agreement.“We cannot conclude this deal without the Europeans being at the table,” Kushner said.According to Kushner, the US delegation raised the issue directly with Putin, who indicated a willingness to accept European involvement.“He’s going to give it a try,” Kushner said.Speaking alongside the US envoys at a military airbase outside Dublin, Zelensky welcomed both developments as concrete progress after two days of negotiations in Abu Dhabi and subsequent US talks with Putin.“Each meeting has to give results and bring us closer to peace,” Zelensky said.The Ukrainian leader said the prisoner exchange, agreed in Abu Dhabi, could bring more than a thousand Ukrainians home, describing it as a significant humanitarian achievement.“Our soldiers will come home,” Zelensky said. “This is a real result.”The agreements emerged from renewed US mediation efforts, with Kushner and Witkoff traveling from Abu Dhabi to Moscow before briefing Zelensky in Ireland, where he was attending a summit of European leaders. Kyiv Post is Ukraine’s first and oldest English news organization, reporting since 1995. Its international reach – 90% of readers are outside of Ukraine – make it truly Ukraine’s global voice.