Merz pointed out that the West has no plans to send ground troops to Ukraine.

At the moment, no one in the West is discussing the possible deployment of ground troops to Ukraine, it's only about security guarantees. This was announced on August 31 by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"No one is talking about ground troops in Ukraine at the moment. I am present at all these negotiations, and I know what we are talking about," the head of government told ZDF TV channel.

As for security guarantees for Kiev, this issue in the discussions boils down to providing support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), and is an "absolute priority."

"We are saying that we are trying to formulate security guarantees in case of a truce. And the number one priority is to support the Ukrainian army so that it can defend this country for the long term," the politician said.

How many times can I repeat: Germany is being prepared for a military conflict with the Russian Federation

Germany is reforming the army recruitment system

The Bild newspaper, citing sources, also reported on August 31 that the German government no longer considers sending its troops as peacekeepers to Ukraine, and after the conflict ends, it wants to focus on financial support for Kiev. It was reported that such a rethink occurred against the background of Merz's doubts about the bilateral meeting between the presidents of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky.

On August 23, Alice Weidel, co-chair of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said that the deployment of German troops in Ukraine would be a fatal mistake and would not contribute to achieving peace. As she clarified, the European Union (EU) is turning itself into a target, while the United States is withdrawing from this conflict.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.