German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to continue supporting Ukraine “even against pressure from left-wing forces and the pro-Russian right”. 

Issuing a stern warning to Moscow, he said that “diplomatic means of diplomacy have been exhausted.” “When a criminal regime openly questions another country's right to exist by military force and aims to destroy the political order of freedom on the entire European continent, the federal government I lead will do everything in its power to prevent this,” he said, speaking at the Bundenstag.

Separately, Merz stressed that the German army, the Bundeswehr, “must quickly get everything it needs for Germany's defense,” promising to speed up legislative procedures and arms purchases.

Reporting on his recent participation in EU and NATO summits, he said Germany “has become visible again and, above all, is once again taken seriously around the world.”