Western troops could repel Russian forces breaking truce under Ukraine guarantees, says Germany

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — A German service member fires at pop-up targets at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, Poland, April 18, 2024. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Randis Monroe via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)

BERLIN  -  Under post-ceasefire guarantees provided by the United States and Europe to Ukraine, peacekeepers could in certain circumstances repel Russian forces, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ZDF public television in an interview, adding that this remained a far-off prospect.

Pressed by interviewers for details on the possible security guarantees floated by the United States in Monday's Berlin talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Merz said the guarantors would need to repel Russian forces should there be a violation of any ceasefire terms.

"We would secure a demilitarized zone between the warring parties and, to be very specific, we would also act against corresponding Russian incursions and attacks. We're not there yet," he said.

"The fact that the Americans have made such a commitment - to protect Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire as if it were NATO territory - I think that's a remarkable new position for the United States of America." 

Russia has yet to agree to the ceasefire that both the U.S. and Europe have said would be a prerequisite for any security guarantees, or to the presence of Western troops on the ground in Ukraine to help end the full-scale war begun when President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. 

'50:50' CHANCE OF GIVING UKRAINE RUSSIA'S ASSETS

Merz said he believed there was a "50:50" chance of securing a European agreement on using immobilized Russian assets to fund Ukraine's continuing defence. It was essential to do so, he added, since Ukraine would need funding for at least two more years after the current round of European funding runs out in the first quarter of 2026.

"There are reservations throughout Europe, and I can well understand these reservations," he said. "But ... if we don't act now and make the decision we could make to halt this advance of the Russian army, when will we?"

The hostile tone towards Europe in the new U.S. National Security Strategy had not surprised him, he said, since it mirrored many of the criticisms Vice President JD Vance made of Europe in his speech to the Munich Security Conference at the start of the year.

But Merz said any isolationist drift on the part of the U.S. was unlikely to be sustained.

"America first is all well and good, but America alone would not be good for America either," he said. "And taking a look at the economic data in America, I can imagine that the Americans will eventually approach us and say, 'Don't we want to talk about some issues that benefit us both?'"

 (Reporting by Thomas Escritt, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien // REUTERS)