Merz sees war in Ukraine dragging on with no clear end in sight

Jenni Thier, Bloomberg News on Aug 31, 2025

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he hasn’t given up hope that a ceasefire can be secured in Ukraine, but he’s “not under any illusions either.”

“I am preparing myself inwardly for the possibility that this war could go on for a long time,” Merz said in an interview on Sunday with public broadcaster ZDF in which he also rejected a proposal by his coalition partner, the Social Democrats, to increase taxes in Germany.

Now in its fourth year, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is the longest war in Europe since World War II.

“If you look back at history to see how wars end, there are basically two possibilities: either through the military defeat of one side or the other — which I don’t see happening at the moment for either Russia or Ukraine — or through economic and/or military exhaustion,” Merz said. “But I don’t see that happening on either side at the moment either.”

Not an Option

The war “could end tomorrow if Ukraine surrenders, gives up, and the country loses its independence,” he said. “But the day after, the next country would be in line. And then the day after that, it would be our turn. That is not an option.”

Merz also repeated that he wants the U.S. to ally on a diplomatic solution with the understanding that it could be “a lengthy process.”

“I want the U.S. to work with us as long as possible to try to solve this problem,” he said. But “diplomacy is not about flipping a switch overnight and then everything will be fine again,” he said.

With U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace efforts sputtering, the German chancellor has grown increasingly pessimistic, signaling he no longer expects a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin to take place.

On Friday, Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron called for secondary sanctions aimed at undermining Russia’s war machine by curbing its capacity to raise revenue from oil sales.

Tax Increases

Merz also ruled out tax increases in Germany, a policy the Social Democrats are pushing as a way to fill gaps in the budget.

“We agreed in our coalition agreement that taxes would not be raised. And that coalition agreement stands,” Merz said.

Since coming to power this year, Merz’s government has unleashed debt-financed spending programs worth hundreds of billions of euros on defense and infrastructure that ended years of austerity, sparking criticism within his conservative bloc.

“We are incurring a lot of debt. We are doing so to an extent that is pushing the limits of what I personally can and am willing to take responsibility for,” Merz said.