Under the guarantees that the United States and Europe would provide to Ukraine after a ceasefire, peacekeepers could repel Russian forces in certain circumstances. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this in an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF. He added, however, that this prospect is still rather remote.
Asked by reporters for details about possible security guarantees that the United States put forward at Monday's Berlin talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Merz said the guarantors would have to repel Russian forces if any cease-fire terms were violated.
"We would secure the demilitarized zone between the warring parties and, to be very specific, we would also act against corresponding Russian incursions and attacks. We are not there yet," he said.
"The fact that the Americans have made that commitment - to protect Ukraine in the event of a cease-fire as if it were NATO territory - I think it's a remarkable new position for the United States."
Russia has not yet agreed to a cease-fire, which both the U.S. and Europe have said is a precondition for any security guarantees, or to the presence of Western troops in Ukraine to help end the large-scale war that began when President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Merz also said he believes there is a 50-50 chance of reaching a European agreement on using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's ongoing defense. He added that it is imperative to do so because Ukraine will need funding for at least two more years after the current round of European funding ends in the first quarter of 2026.
"There are reservations across Europe, and I understand them well," he said. "But (...) if we don't act now and make a decision that we could make to stop this advance by the Russian military, when are we going to do it?"
The hostile tone towards Europe in the new US national security strategy did not surprise him, he said, as it mirrored many of the criticisms Vice President JD Vance made of Europe in his speech at a security conference in Munich earlier this year.
But Merz said any isolationist shift by the US is unlikely to be permanent.
"America first may be fine, but America alone would not be good for America either," he said. "And when we look at the economic data in America, I can imagine that the Americans will eventually come to us and say, 'Don't we want to talk about some issues that are beneficial to both of us?"