German Chancellor: Letting Ukraine give up Donbas is like asking the US to give up Florida
On August 18 local time, US President Trump held talks with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who visited the White House, as well as several European leaders. According to German media such as "Der Spiegel", on Monday local time, German Chancellor Merkel reiterated after the meeting in Washington that Ukraine should not be forced to compromise with Russia in ceasefire negotiations, giving up its territorial claims over the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
"Plainly speaking, Russia's demand for Kyiv to abandon the Donbas region is like asking the US to give up Florida," he compared.
However, the summit with Trump did not discuss the issue of possible territorial cessions. The German T-Online portal reported that Trump has always been ambiguous on this sensitive issue of territory:
On one hand, Trump told European leaders that this issue could only be decided by Ukraine itself; on the other hand, shortly before the start of this joint meeting, he also posted on his social platform that Ukraine no longer had the right to claim the Crimea Peninsula, which Russia gained control of in 2014.
According to the report, Merkel also told journalists that Russian President Putin agreed to hold a meeting with Zelenskyy within "the next two weeks", and the location of the meeting has not been determined. He claimed that Putin reached this consensus during his conversation with Trump. During the meeting, Trump paused the meeting and called Putin.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840871556672600/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.