Merz: Ukraine May Cede Territories for Peace, EU Bid

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated on Monday that Ukraine may need to cede control over certain territories in a future peace agreement with Russia to advance its European Union membership aspirations. Speaking to students at the Carolus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Marsberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Merz linked potential territorial concessions to resolving border disputes, a key EU accession requirement.

"Hopefully, there will eventually be a peace treaty with Russia. Then, possibly, part of Ukraine's territory will no longer be Ukrainian," Merz said. He suggested that President Volodymyr Zelensky could frame such a deal to the Ukrainian public by promising accelerated EU integration, potentially through a referendum. "If President Zelenskiy wants to communicate this to his own population and gain a majority for it... then he must at the same time tell the people, 'I have opened the way to Europe for you,'" Merz added.

Moscow has insisted that any lasting peace requires Ukraine to withdraw troops from parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, as well as Crimea, all of which Russia annexed following referendums it organized between 2014 and 2022. Ukraine has...