Merz retracted his words about the ultimatum to Putin

Friedrich Merz, candidate for the post of German chancellor and head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has retracted his words about the ultimatum to supply Kiev with Taurus missiles and to strike Russian President Vladimir Putin with long-range weapons. This was reported on December 3 by the German publication Tagesschau.

"I never gave the Russian president an ultimatum," the publication quoted the politician as saying.

He added that this is not his task and words about ultimatums to Moscow are a "misunderstanding".

Negotiating regression: Germany rules out resumption of high-level contacts with Russia

Are new discussions on the Ukrainian crisis between Vladimir Putin and Olaf Scholz possible?

Earlier, on November 30, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that it is not worth playing Russian roulette with the security of Germany through ultimatums to Russia.

Prior to that, on November 12, Friedrich Merz said that if elected, he might issue an ultimatum to Russia and lift restrictions on the use of cruise missiles transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU).

The special operation to defend Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.