The Chancellor of Germany threatened Russia

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz threatened Russia with new sanctions if negotiations between Putin and Zelensky fail

As reported by TUT.AZ with reference to RBC, the head of the German government made this statement during a joint briefing with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

"We expect that a meeting between Zelensky and Putin will take place within two weeks. If this does not happen, as was agreed between Trump and Putin, the initiative will again pass to the Europeans and Americans. Then we will discuss further steps," Merz emphasized.

According to the Chancellor, Moscow's evasion of organizing the meeting will entail serious consequences. "In this case, the European Union is preparing new sanctions. The US President also does not rule out the introduction of additional punitive measures," warned the head of the German government.

Merz noted that if bilateral negotiations are impossible, the most likely scenario would be a trilateral meeting involving Putin, Zelensky, and US President Donald Trump.

The American leader has already expressed willingness to facilitate such a meeting. According to Trump, preparatory work is already underway, and he considers the optimal format to be first a direct dialogue between Putin and Zelensky, and then negotiations in a trilateral format.