Von der Leyen wants to see a 30-day ceasefire and spoke with Merz about supporting Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
Ursula von der Leyen discussed with Friedrich Merz the importance of a ceasefire in Ukraine and strengthening its position. They agreed on further economic, military and political support.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke about Ukraine with the new German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and stressed the importance of adopting and implementing the proposed 30-day ceasefire in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine. At the same time, the parties agreed that they should bring Ukraine to a position of strength, which includes further support for it, von der Leyen said, UNN reports.
We discussed Ukraine. First of all, I think it is important that the 30-day ceasefire proposed now by President Trump and President Zelensky is adopted and subsequently implemented. At the same time, we also agreed that we must bring Ukraine to a position of strength. This includes further support - economic, military and political. And we both stressed that we want to achieve a just and lasting peace,
At the same time, according to her, "additional defense spending is also needed in Europe".
"I welcome Friedrich's initiative to significantly increase Germany's defense spending. As part of our Readiness 2030 initiative, we agreed on the need to complete SAFE," she said.
According to von der Leyen, "with SAFE, we will provide EUR 150 billion in the form of loans supported by the EU. These loans will finance purchases from European manufacturers - and Germany can certainly offer a strong defense industry," she stressed.
Addition
The Ukrainian side expects that the provisions on the new SAFE instrument will be approved in the near future. This is expected to allow Ukraine to participate in joint procurement of necessary defense products together with EU member states both on the European market and directly from Ukrainian manufacturers.
Earlier, Friedrich Merz announced the existence of a joint European declaration on a ceasefire in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine from Germany, France, Poland and other partners. This, according to him, is "basically identical to the proposal for a 30-day ceasefire". According to Merz, Europeans support this demand of US President Donald Trump. If Russia does not embark on the path of genuine peace negotiations, we will not hesitate to "increase sanctions pressure together with our European partners and the United States of America," Merz stressed.
French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed support for Trump's call for a 30-day ceasefire in the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, indicating that he expects a response from Russia and promising a reaction in case of refusal.